


Put The Pieces Back Together

by Madalena



Series: A Family, Whole [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-03-26 06:25:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 38,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3840445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madalena/pseuds/Madalena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>***Updated description!***</p>
<p>Spoilers to the end of S4, AU from end of 4x19 "Lily". M rating for Chapter 15, the rest is T. There will also be S5 spoilers up to 5x19 "Sisters". And none of this 5x21 "Last Rites" nonsense. HAPPY ENDINGS LIVE HERE.</p>
<p>Fixing broken hearts is not easy, especially if you've smashed an already vulnerable one into smithereens. It's going to take a lot of work for Robin to earn Regina's trust back. Or is there magic at play again?</p>
<p>Then a new magic user comes to light, something that comes as a shock to the whole Hood-Mills-Charming clan. How will Robin and Regina cope with this new information, and will they be able to protect their loved ones from the Dark One? Takes an AU approach to seasons 4B and 5A at the same time.</p>
<p>OutlawQueen. SwanQueen friendship. Lily/Regina friendship. Eventual appearances of the entire Hood-Mills-Charming clan, including Zelena and Rumplestiltskin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to fix it, since I do not have confidence that the OUAT writers will, what with them making a habit of kicking Regina in the face in one way or another at the end of Every. Single. Story. Arc. I can't be the only Evil Regal who is getting sick of this. Regina's worked so hard at changing her ways and being good. And then they throw this sick joke into the mix? As Hook would say, it is bad form.
> 
> I want to have hope for OutlawQueen. I really do. It's just hard right now.
> 
> (And oh, my story "Support Group for Evil Queens" is on hiatus until I can deal with writing Zelena in a positive light again, because right now, after that episode... I just can't.)

_“She’s pregnant.” Robin said despondently._

_Regina didn’t even register the look of triumph in her sister’s eyes. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t think. All she could do was feel. Feel her heart free-falling into oblivion._

“So am I.” Regina whispered, looking at her feet, her hands, anywhere but Robin’s face as she fled the apartment and down the stairs. She heard footsteps on the stairs behind her, a disembodied voice calling her name. She didn’t care who it was and ignored them, flying out onto the street and taking off in a random direction.

Unused to New York crowds, Regina found herself pushing through and past people in a most undignified manner, not that it mattered to her right then. She could feel the tears streaming down her face as she elbowed past even more people, and the sobs burning in her throat as she tried to retain some composure.

She hadn’t told anyone. Not even Emma, Henry or Snow. She knew it was Robin’s, there hadn’t been anyone else in her life for years. She had been hoping that she could find Robin and tell him first before anyone else noticed.

This had not been the revelatory moment she had been hoping for. Ever since that phone call in her vault, she had known it wouldn’t be an easy mission in New York, with her sister having invaded her life - again. But she had never anticipated him choosing _Zelena_ over her. Even knowing that she had killed Marian, impersonated her and used that disguise to conceive his child - he still chose Zelena over his soulmate.

Sure, in another life, Regina had killed Marian too. Robin knew that, and had never held it against her, because he knew that she had changed. No longer the monster she had once been. From the moment they had met in the Enchanted Forest, he had known he was looking at a different woman. But Zelena had killed Marian mere weeks ago, had worn her face to seduce him, and now… this. If it had been Marian - the real one - pregnant with Robin’s child, she would have felt heartbroken, but would have understood. She was his wife, and already the mother of one of his children. But Zelena? What had Zelena ever brought him besides heartache, pain and misery? Why did he stand by her?

Exhausted and drained, Regina’s tears slowed and she stopped on a desolate street corner. The crowds had vanished, she didn’t know where she was. Nor did she much care at the moment. She slumped into a doorway and stayed there, bereft of all hope.

“Regina?”

It was not Emma. Nor was it Robin.

“Lily? Were you following me?”

“Yeah, I… seems like you shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“Because you know me so well.”

“I know some of your story. How much of it is true, I don’t know. But I know that you and my mom were best friends.”

“And mortal enemies, depending on the day.”

“Still. Same could be said for you and Emma. You stopped her from killing me.”

“I did. Because I know where that road leads. To today. To what you witnessed. Feeling hope, feeling like you’re finally getting your soulmate back… only to find that once again fate has played a cruel joke on you.”

“I know what that’s like.”

“I guess you would. It shocked me, you know. When Snow and Charming told me what they had done to you and Maleficent. I didn’t think they had it in them. And then they dare judge me for some of the choices I’ve made? Especially considering so many of them weren’t even of my own free will, instead being manipulations by my mother or Rumplestiltskin?”

“So where does Zelena fit into all of this? I mean… Oz, right? That’s real too?”

“It is. Zelena is my older half-sister. Our mother abandoned her and left her to be carried away to Oz by a cyclone. She appeared in our lives a year and a half ago now, when we were back in the Enchanted Forest. Plotting to take my life for herself - she wanted to go back in time to prevent our mother from abandoning her. So she would be raised as her daughter and be tutored by Rumplestiltskin. I wouldn’t have been born. Nor would Snow, Emma or Henry.”

“But she didn’t go back in time.”

“Oh, she did. But she wasn’t in control of it - Emma and Hook were pulled into the portal, and it seems Emma decided where they landed. Since they didn’t land in the time period Zelena needed, she decided to pursue a more mundane method of taking my life for her own. Which she has now done, as you saw.”

“So if Zelena actually killed Robin’s wife… why is he even staying with her?”

Regina sighed. “He has a stupid sense of honour and feels a responsibility towards that child. Though why he can’t do that from a distance, I do not know. And to be fair, I killed his wife too. I mean, before the whole time travel experience changed things. He knew that, even though I didn’t at first - she was just one of many that I killed over the years.”

“So why did Robin fall for you?”

“Short version? Destiny and pixie dust. Long version? When we met, he knew that I wasn’t the same woman anymore. I was… broken. Bereft. I had just lost the only thing that mattered in my life - my son Henry.”

“But Henry’s alive.”

“Yes, but he and Emma had stayed here while the rest of us were taken back to the Enchanted Forest. I wasn’t going to ever see him again. And I had even given him and Emma new memories, so that they wouldn’t even remember us.” Regina’s voice cracked just remembering that painful moment.

“So Robin… what? He put you back together?”

Regina smiled a small smile through her tears as she looked up at the younger woman. “Yes. He gave me hope again. Something I hadn’t had in a very long time.”

“And now crushed it into tiny pieces.” Lily’s eyes darkened. “If Emma hasn’t beaten him to a bloody pulp yet, I think I just might.”

“Did it look like that was a possibility when you left?”

“I’m sure she was thinking it. But I didn’t see anything besides shock before I followed you.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Lily.”

“Let’s start by getting you out of the cold.” Lily reached out her hand, and for once, Regina took it, letting her help her to her feet.

“So where are we going?”

“Normally I’d suggest a bar and drinking yourself silly. But since that’s not the best option right now, a diner and ice cream.”

Regina groaned. “I get enough of Granny’s Diner in Storybrooke.”

“Ahh, but you haven’t had an ice cream sundae with a side of pizza like they can do here in New York.”

Regina smiled wistfully, remembering Henry talking about New York pizza. “Henry did tell me he liked the pizza here. Okay, I’m in.”

Lily smiled. “Come on. I know just the place.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina and Lily gain an unexpected ally in the fight against Zelena.

Regina followed Lily silently towards the diner she spoke of. Despite only knowing the girl for a few hours, Regina was already warming up to her - something that was odd for both of them, she was sure. Unlike Emma, who hated silences and would fill them with anything she could come up with, Lily understood that silence did not have to be uncomfortable. They had a lot in common - both manipulated by forces that were outside of their control, spiraling into darkness and despair. If Snow had kept her mouth shut and Regina had escaped with Daniel, hers could have been avoided. Lily had never stood a chance.

Regina had a great deal of sympathy for the daughter of her old friend. If things had been different, Regina could have been her godmother. As it was, she had been so consumed with the casting of the Dark Curse that she hadn’t even known that Mal had been pregnant. She didn’t even know who the father was. She’d never known Mal to take any lovers, and she had been tight-lipped about it most recently in Storybrooke when Regina had asked.

Lily stopped suddenly. “We’re here.”

She led Regina into a tiny but packed diner, weaving her way to the back, where Regina soon saw another room that seemed to be ignored by the other patrons.

“No one seems to know this room is here.” Lily said. “I’ve never known why.”

“I know why.” Regina said, stopping short of entering. “It’s magic.”

“Magic? But I thought it didn’t work in this world.”

“Oh, it does. You can’t create it here, but if you’ve brought it along, then you can.”

“I don’t have magic and I’ve eaten here regularly. Not so much now that I haven’t been living in the city for a few years, but before that…”

“Oh, you have magic, Lily. You just haven’t had the opportunity to use it yet. The question is, who owns this place and has known for years that you do?”

“That would be me.” A figure stepped out of the kitchen, but stayed in the shadows.

“Who are you?” Regina asked warily.

A kind-looking old woman stepped out of the shadows. “My name is Mrs. Potts. I’ve been waiting many years for you to return, Lilith. I had been worried about you.”

“You know who she is?”

“Of course I do. Just like I know who you are, Queen Regina.”

“Who do you work for?”

“I don’t work for anyone. The only person from our land that I have had any contact with in many years is young Lilith here.”

“Our land.”

“The Enchanted Forest, of course.”

“You were a witch there.”

“I was. A good one. Then I was captured by the Dark One. He transformed me into a teapot that would never run out of tea.”

“But how did you end up in this land?”

“I was kind. There was a lonely young witch living with him for awhile… she realized that I was a person when I spoke to her one day, and she transformed me back. She kept it a secret from the Dark One.”

“Zelena.” Regina breathed.

“Yes. So you’ve met. Anyways, I soon discovered that she was even more petty than the Dark One. A selfish child full of jealousy. When I wouldn’t go along with her plan to, well, kill you - she banished me to this land and I’ve been here ever since. I set up this diner, and keep this special room cloaked, because I know there are others like me about - some need help, some need to be stopped. Some just need to be watched.”

“Is that the category I fall under?” Lily asked.

“Yes. The Apprentice visited me many years ago, I believe after he came to you, and told me to watch for you.”

“Why?”

“To see if things were as set in stone as he believed they were.”

“Are they? Am I the anti-saviour?”

“You don’t need to be, Lilith. There is free will.”

Regina scoffed. “Bad time for you to be saying that, lady. You know my story. My history with the Dark One. My history with Zelena. As we speak, my True Love is shacking up with Zelena, because she’s pregnant with his child, because she killed his actual wife and has been masquerading as her for months now, and yet he still stays with her even though we’ve been fated to be together.”

Regina felt dizzy and stepped into the room, leaning against a table. Her anger was back and her tears were threatening to return.

Mrs. Potts stepped up beside her and guided her to a chair. “Sit, child. I know that Zelena is nearby. I’ve felt her presence for several months now.”

“Has she recognized you?”

“No, no. She’s never been in here. But the man - the one you call your soulmate - and his boy have been in a number of times.”

“Here. In this room?”

“Oh yes.”

“But Robin doesn’t have magic.”

“He doesn’t, no. But he has been touched by it. That's enough. And his boy does.”

“Roland has magic?”

“He does.” Mrs. Potts gave Regina a sharp look. “You must help him learn to use it for good.”

“And you think I can do that?”

“I know you can. The boy misses you. The pair didn’t notice, but I always watched them, listened to them. That’s how I knew that you were not the Evil Queen anymore.”

“They talked about me?”

“Always. They both miss you.”

“Doesn’t seem like it right now.”

“But they do. The night that your Robin found out that his wife was pregnant, he came down here and drunk himself stupid.”

“But if he thought it was his wife that was pregnant, not Zelena…”

“He still loves you.”

“Then why is he staying with her? And what did you mean that he’s been touched by magic?”

Mrs. Potts sighed. “I’m afraid that’s a longer story. Lilith brought you here for a reason. I’m guessing it involves one of my famous ice cream sundaes?”

“It does.” Lily spoke up. “And pizza.”

“Then let’s get that on order, and I’ll tell you everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is where I need input, where we need to make a choice... Robin has been "touched by magic". This can go one of two ways: Either that "touched by magic" is the pixie dust that Tinkerbell cast that led Regina to him, and he is otherwise completely healthy and will require chapters and chapters of hard work to get back into Regina's good graces, or it is that Zelena has done something to him and is controlling him in some way, so all that needs to happen is that something has to be resolved and Robin will be back to his senses as soon as they figure it all out and OutlawQueen can ride off happily into the sunset.
> 
> So, what are the votes?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So one of the options presented at the end of the last chapter has been chosen. I might go back and write the other option at some point too, we'll see. But for now we have this one!

After a few minutes, Mrs. Potts returned with the biggest and most elaborate ice cream sundae that Regina had ever seen. It had multiple scoops of different flavours of ice cream, chocolate sauce, peanut butter sauce - how had Mrs. Potts known that chocolate and peanut butter was one of Regina’s favourite combinations? - crumbled chocolate bars, whipped cream and generous toppings of nuts and sprinkles.

After delivering the sundae, she returned with a large pepperoni pizza and three plates, pulling up a chair to the table that Regina and Lily were seated at. Lily looked at her questioningly.

“What?” Mrs. Potts shrugged. “It’s a long story and I’m hungry.”

Regina looked between the sundae and the pizza, not sure which to start with.

“The sundae.” Lily said. “You can warm up pizza again, you can’t reshape a melted sundae.”

“Well, the Snow Queen probably could… too bad she didn’t keep Zelena frozen.”

“So she made it to Storybrooke in the end, did she?” Mrs. Potts asked. “The Snow Queen?”

“Oh yes.” Regina said. “But she’s dead and gone now. But she had frozen Marian - well, Zelena - and it was because of the lingering effects of her spell that she, Roland and Robin had to leave Storybrooke to begin with.”

“Is it?” Mrs. Potts looked at her sharply. “You know the laws of magic. If the Snow Queen is dead, the freezing curse should have been lifted.”

“And it was. Then she… relapsed.”

“Did she? Or was it a new spell, one conjured by Zelena herself, to separate you from Robin again?”

Regina stopped in mid-bite as comprehension dawned. When Marian - correction, _Zelena_ \- had come to her in Granny’s after she had been unfrozen, to tell her that she’d step out of the way and let Regina be with Robin - that was a part of her game. To let Regina think that she could be happy with Robin. And as soon as Robin had said it - that he wanted to be with her - was when Zelena once again tore her happiness away by casting a spell on herself, knowing that Regina would again do the right thing and save her. It was a long game, but an effective one, playing on Regina’s new heroic tendencies every step of the way. Zelena had been counting on it.

She put her spoon down and rested her head in her hands. “It was always her. Manipulating me. Ever since Robin and I first met. Maybe even before. She knows everything about me. She watched me for years. Surely she knew Robin was my soulmate - probably even before I did.”

“She has. But that doesn’t change one immutable fact.” Mrs. Potts said.

“And what’s that?”

“That Robin is your soulmate. And destiny always finds a way.”

“It’s that stupid Author. He’s destined me to fail every time.”

“The Author?” Mrs. Potts said contemplatively. “You think so?”

Regina looked up. “What else could it be? I’m not the only one looking for him. Rumple is too. And Mal. Maleficent. And well, we did find him. He was locked in the book. But then he ran away, though he must still be in Storybrooke.”

“And when was he locked in the book?”

“After Snow and Charming banished baby Lily here to this world.”

“And what happened after?”

“I killed my father, cast the curse, Emma was born and Snow and Charming put her through the magical wardrobe. Then Emma and Hook rewrote a part of the book when they went back in time and changed what happened with regards to Snow and Charming meeting and falling in love.”

“And all of those changes happened before the Author was released from the book?”

“Of course.”

Mrs. Potts looked at her knowingly. “That right there tells you. You don’t need the Author to change your fate. The book writes itself without the Author’s input. I knew of this Author - the one who was trapped, and should have stayed so - and he amused himself by not only recording, but manipulating.”

Regina looked at her warily. “How much manipulation?”

“Not most of your life, if that’s what you’re thinking. That was still Rumplestiltskin and your mother Cora. The Author is a mortal man - his lifespan is not infinite. But he did manipulate a number of events in the Enchanted Forest.”

“Not most events of my life. So he did manipulate some events.”

“He did. Including one pivotal one.”

“Robin. Did he make Robin my soulmate?”

“No. That was preordained. But he did prevent you from meeting him when you should have.”

“He wrote me running away from the tavern.”

“Yes.”

“And that’s why the alternate page appeared to Robin - because what happened in the book isn’t what should have happened.”

“I would imagine so. There are forces more powerful than the Author.”

“The Sorcerer.” Regina said, taking a big bite of her sundae.

“Indeed. And by showing you that page, it seems like the Sorcerer is on your side. He wants you to find your happy ending.”

Regina smiled a small smile. “Well, I hope he’s up for some more guidance, because I don’t know how I’m going to fix this.”

“First step will be going back to Storybrooke. All of you - Robin, Roland and Zelena included.”

“That brings us back to my original question - what did you mean when you said that Robin was touched by magic?”

“I could feel it on him.”

“A spell? Did Zelena cast some sort of spell to keep him from coming back to me?”

“Not a spell. More… something missing.”

“Something missing.” Regina’s eyes widened as she realized the implications. “His heart. She has taken his heart. That’s why he’s doing what she wants.”

“You can do that?” Lily said in shock. “Just… take out hearts and people still live, but you control them?”

“Oh yes.” Regina said. “My mother used that talent to great effect. There’s a reason they called her the Queen of Hearts.”

“But isn’t that Wonderland? I thought you were from the Enchanted Forest.”

“Long story. But how could she have taken his heart? That’s not something you can do in a non-magical land.”

“But if you have already removed the heart where there is magic…” Mrs. Potts said.

Regina’s heart leapt into her throat. “You mean he was already missing his heart when they left Storybrooke? How did I not notice?”

“You were too focused on the emotions between you. As was he.”

Regina remembered their parting at the town line. The emotions on Robin’s face. Even without his heart, he had been totally in love with her and utterly devastated at their parting. It renewed the tears in her eyes.

“So I need to find where Zelena is keeping his heart and return it to him.”

“You will need to be in a magical place to return it. Just finding it here isn’t enough.”

“Any suggestions?”

“You will need a part of him to be able to find the missing part of him.”

“A part of him? Not his whole being? Sounds unnecessarily gruesome.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Mrs. Potts replied. “As luck would have it, you have a part of him with you.”

Regina rested her hand on her stomach. “Our child.”

“Your child will guide you to his heart. I’m certain it would be close, but not so close that Robin or his boy could discover it by accident.”

Regina stood up. “No time to waste.”

“You’re not going anywhere without finishing your meal.” Mrs. Potts said sternly. “Sit back down and finish eating. You’re eating for two, and you will need your strength.”

Reluctantly, Regina sat back down and returned to her food. As she ate, she contemplated where Zelena could be hiding Robin’s heart.

She _would_ find it. She _would_ get her happy ending.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the writers handled things better than I hoped, and "Mother" is now my favourite episode of OUAT, beating out "Save Henry", "Bleeding Through" and "The Stable Boy". But still not as well as I would like. So this story continues :)
> 
> And oh, spoilers for 4x20 "Mother" in this chapter.

As Regina polished off the pizza and the ice cream sundae, her phone beeped. When she picked it up, she saw she had already missed three calls from Emma, in addition to the text that had made the beep.

_“Getting way awkward sitting here with Robin and Zelena. Roland’s due home from preschool anytime now. For Roland’s sake I’m not leaving, not leaving him alone with her. I know you care about him too. Whatever your feelings might be about Robin, Roland doesn’t need to suffer for it. Please come back Regina and we’ll solve this. PS: You dropped a bombshell on Robin as big as he dropped on you. You guys need to talk.”_

Regina looked up at Lily. “It’s Emma. She wants us back.”

“You ready to go back?”

Regina sighed. “I’d really rather not until we can find his heart, but for Roland’s sake, we should. He’ll be coming home soon, and now that Zelena’s unmasked, we don’t want him anywhere near him.”

“But are you ready to go back? You don’t have to. I’ll go back and work with Emma to make sure the kid is safe, while you and Mrs Potts find Robin’s heart.”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure where we are anymore, couldn’t get back if I wanted to.”

“I know where they live.” Lily and Mrs Potts said simultaneously.

“Okay, so I’ll stay here and we’ll work out a strategy. Lily, you go back and tell Emma that I’ll be along soon, I’m just… processing. I won’t be long.”

Lily nodded and disappeared out the door. Regina sighed and rubbed one hand over her stomach, trying to feel the miracle that she and Robin had created, the miracle she had never thought possible.

“True Love’s Kiss.” Mrs Potts said.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re wondering how you’re pregnant. True Love’s Kiss.”

“With all due respect, that’s not how babies happen.”

“Of course not, silly child. But given your condition, True Love’s Kiss is the answer.”

“My condition?”

“The potion.”

“How do you know about that?” Regina asked suspiciously. “The only person who knew about that was my mother. And she’d be the last person to share that kind of information.”

“Your mother, believe it or not, was looking for a cure for it. She came to me for help.”

“You’re right, I don’t believe it.”

“Believe what you want, Regina, but it’s true. Trying to help her find a cure is how I ended up trapped by the Dark One.”

“You didn’t honestly think that Rumplestiltskin would have a cure?”

“Of course not. And I didn’t go looking for him. But Cora must have said something to him as well. Maybe inadvertently, maybe thinking that her old love would help her.”

Regina sighed. “But he wouldn’t. Because whatever my mother’s plans for me were, Rumple’s were different. They both needed me broken, but in different ways for different purposes. But he needed me in pain. Needed me to cast the curse. He sent my mother back to Wonderland so that she would stop looking. But you didn’t stop.”

“And thus how I ended up trapped.”

“But you found the cure?”

“It’s so simple.”

“But it shouldn’t have been. I’ve seen the potion before. I know that King George used it on Snow, and the only way she was cured was the waters of Lake Nostos. She shared True Love’s Kiss with Charming and that didn’t fix it.”

“Not every kiss between True Loves is True Love’s Kiss.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The world doesn’t explode in colours each time two people who are True Loves kiss. True Love’s Kiss happens with specific intent. In this case, Charming did not know that Snow had been cursed with the potion.”

“Robin also didn’t know - doesn’t know - that I took the potion too.”

“He might not have known about the potion, but he knew you were in pain, and that he could provide healing to you. When you accepted him into your heart and accepted the healing that he could bring to your soul, that gave True Love’s Kiss the opportunity it needed to heal you in more ways than one.”

“Convoluted, but okay. I guess I have to believe it, since the proof is right here.”

“And it tells you all you need to know. Robin is your True Love. And true love is worth fighting for.”

“But Zelena…”

“Can’t win. She is an obstacle you must overcome, but think about it - how many obstacles did you help put in the way of Snow White and Prince Charming’s love?”

“Point taken.”

Mrs Potts stood up. “So come on now. Use the power of your love and your child to find Robin’s heart. Heal your True Love the way he healed you.”

Regina stood as well, and headed for the door. She paused and turned back to the old woman.

“Do you want to come? To Storybrooke, I mean?”

“This is my home now. I must continue watching for people from magical realms. They all end up here eventually. This place draws them in.”

“If I give you my phone number, can you give us a heads up if there are any that look like they may want to wreak havoc in Storybrooke?”

“Of course. Now go, child. No more waiting. When you find the heart, it will then lead you back to him. Be strong, Regina. There is such strength in you. With all that you have experienced, with all that you’ve gone through… you could have become your mother. But you didn’t. You still have hope. You are not afraid of love. Embrace that love and save him.”

Regina embraced the old woman. “I will. Thank you.”

Mrs Potts smiled, and led Regina to the door. Regina wiped the lingering tears from her eyes and channeled her feelings and love towards her and Robin’s child, stepping out the door, letting the child lead the way to Robin’s heart.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... finale tonight! Of course, an OutlawQueen happy ending and True Love's Kiss would be ideal, but as long as Regina doesn't get kicked in the face again, I'll consider it a success.

Regina felt her child pull her down the street towards a large park. As she headed into it, she realized that it wasn’t just a park - it was *the* park that New York was famous for - Central Park. Twilight was falling, which made her nervous, given the park’s reputation after dark. She felt in her coat pocket for the gun she had taken from Emma after her fight with Lily. Here, with no magic, she would be vulnerable, and the gun reassured her.

As she stepped into the park, she looked for an informational sign that might tell her what was where, and see if anything gave a twinge of recognition. She knew Zelena wouldn’t have just stashed it anywhere, she knew that there had to be some meaning behind it. She scanned the list of statues, of buildings…

Her stomach pulsed as she ran her finger over the name “Alice in Wonderland”. Of course. While she or Zelena weren’t a part of Alice’s story, their mother most certainly was. The notorious Queen of Hearts. The symbolism of it was perfect. Her child had just confirmed it.

Regina set off down the path leading to the left, keeping an alert eye on the goings-on around her. If she was lucky, she’d find Robin’s heart and get out of the park before the more suspicious denizens of the park came out for the night.

Thankfully, the statue was not far, but she knew that she would have to be careful in approaching it and finding the heart. Zelena would have certainly saved some enchantments to protect it. Regina also suspected that she could find at least one flying monkey in the vicinity - possibly the same one that Emma had almost married.

Regina took a seat on one of the benches next to the statue, and tried to feel which way her child was pulling her. She surveyed the statue, and couldn’t see a Queen of Hearts anywhere, not to mention even a witch would have trouble hiding a heart in a piece of metal. But her child was still directing her towards the statue instead of the surrounding woods.

As she stood up and approached the statue, she had a strange feeling that she was being watched. She surveyed the trees carefully, but did not feel any flying monkeys, nor were there any other park visitors in the clearing.

It was coming from the statue itself. Almost like it was… no. It couldn’t be living… could it? Why would someone make a living statue in a world with no magic? Was it Zelena? Had she imprisoned some people? Or was it just the power of the heart that brought them to some sort of consciousness?

Regina closed her eyes and focused on the statue, focused on where the life was beating. She moved closer, putting out her hand until it led her to the beating heart.

She opened her eyes. Right there, in the centre of the statue, Alice herself. Regina examined the statue carefully, noting that its eyes made the tiniest flickers of movement. So it had been watching her. Were these eyes for Zelena? Regina had to hope that Emma and Lily were keeping her sister well and occupied that she couldn’t consult any magical warning system, or summon any creatures.

No time to waste. Regina wasn’t sure how her power of ripping out hearts would work in the non-magical world - let alone on a metal statue - but she was out of options. She flexed her fingers in preparation and plunged her hand into the centre of Alice’s chest.

It was there. Warm. Pulsating. Alive. As soon as Regina had a grip on it, a whoosh of energy swept out from the statue, knocking her and the heart in her grasp backwards… into some strong and warm arms that she would recognize anywhere.

“Robin?” she asked. “What are you doing here? How did you know to find me here?”

“My heart took me here.”

Regina smiled, remembering the last time he’d said those words to her. The same day that their child was conceived. She looked down at the beating heart in her hand. It didn’t have the glow that hearts did in Storybrooke, but it was still undoubtedly alive. “But how?”

“I don’t know… I guess when you were physically closer to my heart than she was, she couldn’t control me with it anymore. And I knew what I had done. I knew what I had done to you. But I knew that you were looking for it, and because you were… I knew that… I knew that there was still a chance that we could be together.”

“But Zelena…”

“She was wearing Marian’s face. I would have never… if I had known it was her… even being with her didn’t feel right, even though she was controlling me. There was still a wrongness about it all. And I… I was trying so hard to not feel wrong about not caring for Roland’s mother anymore that I lost hope that anything could ever feel right again. I’m so sorry, Regina. After telling you so many times not to give up hope… I did. And I hate myself for it.”

Regina ran her fingers lightly down his cheek. “I know how difficult hope is. I tried so hard to hold on to it. And then today, when you told me she was pregnant… the world shattered.”

“I know. It did for me too, when she told me. But Regina… I don’t know. It doesn’t seem real to me.”

“We’ll have to check it out when we get back to Storybrooke. She could just be pulling an elaborate hoax.”

“But you… you really are?”

Regina bit her lip and nodded. Robin smiled a genuine smile, and ran his fingers through her hair.

“I’m so glad.” Robin said. “I want us to be a family. I love you. I hope that you can forgive me. That you can have me in your heart again.”

“I want you more than anything.” Regina whispered. “But first you need your heart back.”

“Isn’t this it?”

“Yes, but I can’t put it back here. We need to go back to Storybrooke.”

Robin pulled out a familiar-looking leather pouch and Regina put the heart into it. She started to hand it to him, but he stopped her.

“You hold on to it.”

“But why?”

“You entrusted me with your heart. I entrust you with mine.”

Regina wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, and he kissed her back, both feeling the energy of True Love’s Kiss pulsing through them. As they ran out of air, they pulled back, just holding each other as the sun slipped behind the trees, disappearing into darkness. But there would be no darkness here, not in their hearts or their minds, not now when True Love was reunited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So still a few chapters to go on this variant, then we'll try the next one, which involves Robin groveling a lot more and not lacking his heart at any point. Everyone still on board for that variation?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina and Robin confront Zelena.
> 
> Trigger warning: Mention of rape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it has taken so long to get this up!

Robin and Regina walked hand in hand back to the apartment, reveling in each other’s presence once more. Even though Robin’s heart wasn’t in his chest, the fact that it was being held by his True Love meant that he was feeling nothing but love and happiness. No dampened emotions here - just the feeling of True Love.

When they got upstairs to the apartment, they saw Lily and Roland sitting out in the hallway. Lily was reading to him, and got up quickly when she saw the pair.

“She knows. She knows you got it.” Lily said, careful not to use a name with Roland right there. “She’s not calm. That’s why I waited out here to get Roland.”

“Gina!” Roland yelled out, and came running towards her, hugging her legs.

“Hey Roland.” Regina smiled, and ruffled his hair. “You ready to come back to Storybrooke?”

“Is it safe to go?” He asked seriously. “I know we had to leave because it wasn’t safe for Mama to be there anymore.”

“It’s safe again, Roland. Can’t wait to have you back in Storybrooke. But right now, you’re going to go get some ice cream with Emma and Lily, okay? Your daddy and I have to talk to your Mama.”

“Okay!”

“Should we take him to…” Lily trailed off.

Regina nodded. “Yes. Take him there where it will be safe. And then get Emma to hire another car, we’re not all going to fit in her Bug.”

Regina and Robin went in the door to find Emma tying Zelena to a chair with duct tape, hold a knife to her throat.

“She knows. She knows you freed Robin. Got his heart back.”

“I did. Which means that you no longer control him, sis.” Regina grinned. “Emma, you go with Lily and take Roland for ice cream. She knows where to go.”

“Are you sure you can be alone with her?”

“We’ll be fine, Emma. Go.”

Emma put down the knife and left the apartment. After she heard three sets of footsteps go back down the stairs, she turned to her sister.

“Jig is up.”

“Now are you going to kill me?”

“You have a bigger death wish than I do if you’re talking like that, greenie. There is life after failed revenge.”

“When I was in that cell, you said that if I did something you didn’t like, you’d be there to take my heart.”

“I did, didn’t I? Well, you’re lucky that I’ve grown since then.”

“In all of three months?”

“Yes. I am in control of my happy ending, and you are not going to affect it.”

“What about the baby?”

“If you’re pregnant, we’ll deal with it. But I’m not convinced. We’ll have Dr Whale give you a very thorough examination when we get back to Storybrooke.”

“Storybrooke? But I’ll die a frozen death if I go back there! You wouldn’t want to hurt Robin’s child, would you?”

“That wasn’t the Snow Queen’s curse. That was you.”

“Are you willing to risk a child’s life with it?”

Regina pulled out the magic cuff. “This blocks magic. You’ll be just fine.” She slapped it on Zelena’s wrist and watched it mold itself to her skin.

Zelena gave Regina a harsh glare. “I’m not going to stop, you know. I will destroy your happiness if it is the last thing I do.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “That even sounded cheesy when I said it. Are you so hard up for one-liners you’re taking mine now?”

“You gave up your revenge. I won’t.”

“When are you going to get it, Zelena? Revenge just causes more pain. Revenge doesn’t bring satisfaction. For a moment, it might, sure - but then what? Mission accomplished. And you go back to feeling as sad and empty as you did before, only now you don’t have a goal anymore.”

Zelena scoffed. “I’ve been miserable my whole life. Because of you.”

“I didn’t do anything to you Zelena. Our mother abandoned you. If you want to blame anyone for your lot in life, blame her. And she’s dead. So get over it and move on.”

“Why should I get over it, when you haven’t?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’re still damaged. That’s why it’s so easy to toy with you.” Zelena smiled coyly.

“Damaged doesn’t mean I haven’t moved on.” Regina said, holding firmly to Robin’s hand. “What mother did to me can’t be undone. It will always be a part of me. But I have finally learned to be happy. I have learned what love is and that I don’t have to fear it. That I don’t have to run away from happiness. That happiness is under my control.”

“Clearly not always under your control. Did you forget a little incident with pixie dust?”

“What do you mean?”

“You talk about choice. You talk about control. But Robin was fated by pixie dust to be your soulmate. That doesn’t sound like much choice or control to me.”

Regina opened her mouth to speak, but Robin squeezed her hand, indicating he would take this one.

“Regina knew about the pixie dust. I did not. I still fell for her. Twice. Without knowing anything about the magic of faeries playing a role in it. And maybe there are things we can’t explain in this world - or any other. But I know that I love Regina. You played me falsely. You raped me. I do not, have not and will not ever love you.”

“But Robin, what about our child?”

“I will love our child. Our child has no choice about its parentage. But you will not come near the child. That will be the price that you have to pay for your crimes. Regina won’t take your heart, but I will take the one good thing you have brought into this world.”

“But Regina killed your wife!”

“Most recently, you did.”

“But until the saviour changed history, it was Regina. It was always Regina.”

“It was the Evil Queen. A person that Regina no longer is. She has repented, she has put her life in danger to save others, she has given up everything numerous times to save others. She is a changed woman. I forgive her.”

“But what if I say I’m sorry?”

“You’re not. You’ve made it clear that you’re not. If you decide you are, you have to show that you are. Actions, not words. But know that I will never love you. I love Regina.”

To make his point clear, Robin pulled Regina close to him, kissing her again, staying face to face with her, resting his forehead on hers. As he finally pulled away, he pulled Regina in front of him and rested his hands on her still-flat belly.

“Regina and I will be doubling the size of our family. And we are glad for it. But you will have no part in it unless you prove to us that you have changed.”

Regina smiled at her sister. “See, Zelena? There is life. There is hope. And while you will be confined to Storybrooke’s finest mental institution until such a time that I - we - decide to release you, you will have time to think. Time to really decide what you want to make of your life.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin and Regina talk to Roland about Zelena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I loved most of 4x20 "Mother", I didn't like how cavalierly Robin and Regina decided to use a forgetting potion on Roland. After four seasons of saying "all magic comes with a price", how could they decide that that was the best course of action?
> 
> So I present this version instead. And another note: A lot of people felt that the 4x18 "Heart of Gold" storyline was shoehorned in with no precedent, otherwise Robin would have mentioned having encountered Zelena before back in season 3B. But, two things to note: In the beginning of season 3B, Robin, while being marked as Regina's soulmate, was not a player in the goings-on of the in-crowd of Storybrooke. So he could have easily thought that they knew what they needed to already, and that he wouldn't have anything pertinent to add. Furthermore, if you watch the wake scene in the diner in 3x16 "It's Not Easy Being Green", Robin gets way more than his fair share of screen time, considering his guest status at the time. Watch closely - during Zelena's introductory speech, Robin gets panned to more than anyone else - including Regina - until Zelena starts addressing her directly. And there is definitely recognition in his eyes.

Regina called Emma to find the progress of getting another car. As luck would have it, she had already arranged one, and was at Mrs Potts’ diner with Lily and Roland. Emma agreed to take Lily and Zelena in her Bug, while Regina, Robin and Roland would travel in the other vehicle.

Emma called when she arrived, and she and Regina quickly conferred about how to best handle the Zelena situation in light of Roland’s presence. Robin was in favour of anything that would remove Zelena from his boy’s memory, but Regina reminded him softly that messing with memories was never a quick and easy fix. Magic always had a price, and she did not want the little boy to have to pay it.

Leaving Emma with Zelena, Regina pulled Robin into the hallway.

“So… we just tell him?” Robin asked. “How in the world do we do that?”

Regina thought about what Mrs Potts had said about Roland having magic. “I think… he might be more understanding than we might realize.”

“Do you know something about my son that I don’t? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“It’s… something I learned just before I found your heart. When I left here after you told me she was pregnant… Lily found me, and took me to a diner. But not just any diner. One run by a woman from the Enchanted Forest. She said… she said that you and Roland go in there a lot.”

“Yes, the place with the back room that no one ever goes in. She never told us she was from our land.”

“I think she did that to protect you. From Zelena.”

“She could have protected us by, well, protecting us. Taking us away from Zelena and telling us what happened. Then we wouldn’t have this situation.”

“Zelena still had your heart, Robin. She couldn’t.”

“But what does all that have to do with Roland understanding everything?”

“The woman… Mrs Potts… she told me that you were touched by magic. That’s how I knew that Zelena had taken your heart. And Roland… she said that he…”

“Don’t tell me that monster took my son’s heart too. I will kill her. With my own hands.”

“No no Robin, nothing like that. But she said that Roland had magic.”

“I’ve never seen him do anything magical.”

“He’s still too young to use it in any way but reflexively. He maybe hasn’t even done that yet. But he has the potential for it.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“We’ll deal with it. But the important part is is that if you have magic, you’re more sensitive to magic from others. Roland may have already noticed that something was wrong with his mother, but didn’t know how to say it. Or didn’t want to, because, like you, he may have known something was off but thought he needed to try harder. That the fault was with him, and not with her.”

Robin slumped to the floor with his head in his hands. “I thought I was doing right by my family. In the process I destroyed it.”

“Hey, hey.” Regina said, crouching down in front of him, pulling his hands away from his face and resting her forehead against his. “You have not destroyed your family. You did not do anything. It was Zelena. And we will heal. Come on, let’s go downstairs and talk to Roland.”

Regina led Robin downstairs, where Lily and Roland were sitting on the front steps of the building, reading a book.

“Lily, can you go help Emma?” Regina asked. “We need to talk to Roland.”

She nodded, and handed Roland’s book back to him, heading into the building. Regina and Robin sat down on either side of Roland, looking at each other, not sure how to start.

“This is about Mama, isn’t it?” Roland said, looking at them both.

“Yes, Roland.” Regina said, stroking his curls.

“She’s not sick.” Roland said. “I know she’s not.”

“No, she’s not. She’s…” Robin stopped.

Roland looked at his father, and then at Regina. His eyes widened. “That’s wasn’t Mama.”

“No, sweetie. That woman in there… she is not your mother.”

Roland bit his lip. “I didn’t think she was. But Papa thought so and seemed so happy when she came back. I didn’t want to hurt him. I thought maybe I remembered wrong. I was very little when she went away.”

“Why didn’t you think she was your Mama, Roland?” Regina asked.

“Papa always said I looked like my Mama. But that lady, she had red hair. I don’t have red hair. And she was very pale, like you Gina. She’s not my Mama, but I think she might be your sister.”

Robin and Regina looked at each other, eyes wide. Roland had seen through Zelena’s glamour the whole time. But since he had never encountered the Wicked Witch, he couldn’t have known who she was.

“Yes, Roland. She is my sister.”

Now Roland’s eyes widened. “That means that she was the bad lady! The one who sent those monkeys after you! But why did you and Papa think she was my Mama?”

“We couldn’t see what you could see, Roland.” Regina said. “You’re very special. You can see things, and maybe do things, that other people can’t.”

“Magic? Like you?”

Regina smiled. “Yes, like me.” She was glad that he seized onto the positive uses of magic first, the ones he had seen her perform, instead of all that Zelena had done.

“That’s why I could see her.” Roland thought out loud. “She must have had that charm that Papa and Mama had. The one that could make you look like someone else.”

“The Six-Leaf Clover of Oz.” Robin breathed. “I lost track of it after we lost Marian. But Zelena… since I had taken it from her, she knew where to look for it. She knew we had it.”

“But why could I see through it if you couldn’t, Gina? You’re the best witch out there!”

Regina smiled at Roland’s assessment. “We each have our special talents. I can help you, and you can help me. Think you can be my brave knight again?”

“Of course, Gina.” Roland gave her a big hug. “And my baby sisters will also help protect you.”

“Sisters?” Robin and Regina asked in unison.

“I can feel them.” Roland said simply. “Gina, you have one of them in here.” He patted her belly. “And the bad lady has the other one. But they are both my sisters, and they will help protect us - from the bad lady, and from other monsters. Papa you will be their Papa and Gina you will be their Mama. Gina, can I call you Mama too?”

Regina gave the boy a hug again. “Of course you can, Roland. We’re all going back to Storybrooke and we’re going to be a family.”

Robin joined them in the hug, and Regina sighed in happiness, happy to have these two boys back in her life again. And while she loved all three of her boys - she was glad that the scales were going to be even now with the coming of two daughters. She didn’t doubt for a minute that Roland was accurate in his assessment. Even though scientifically she knew it was too soon to tell, magically speaking, she knew anything was possible.

With love in her life again, anything truly was possible.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina learns that Roland's magic is more powerful than she thought, and Robin worries what his son's magic will mean for the boy's safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story summary has been updated to reflect the fact that the story is about more than just Regina and Robin now - new magic is coming to Storybrooke! So I guess I'm re-writing the end of season 4B!

While Emma and Lily escorted Zelena to the Bug, Regina brought Robin and Roland back up to the apartment so they could collect what belongings they wanted to bring back to Storybrooke with them. Robin went to pack a suitcase, while Regina smiled when the first thing that Roland ran to was the much-loved stuffed monkey that Regina had given him in the Enchanted Forest when they first met.

“The bad lady didn’t like my monkey. Now I know why. It had been one of her monkeys. But you saved me from it, Mama!”

“You saved me too, Roland. Don’t forget that.”

He looked at her confused. “How did I do that?”

“Remember, in the Enchanted Forest, that I was very sad?”

“Because Henry was here in this world.”

“Yes. I missed him very much. I didn’t think I’d see him again. But then you were there. And you reminded me of Henry when he was your age. You made me stronger so that I could fight my sister and win.”

“You will do it again. You will save everyone. Not just from the bad lady, but from the shiny man. You especially have to protect Emma and Lily. The shiny man needs them for the bad things he wants to do.”

Regina sucked in her breath. The shiny man could only be Rumplestiltskin.

“Okay, sweetheart. I’ll do what I can. But I need you to promise me something. Can you do that?”

Roland nodded vigorously.

“If you see something you don’t think we see, or if something or someone looks different to you than it does to other people, tell me or your Papa right away, okay? Even if you think it might make us sad. And if we’re not there right then, you can tell Snow, Emma or Friar Tuck. But no one else, okay? You can do some very special things, and telling too many people about them could be dangerous.”

Roland nodded solemnly. “I promise, Mama.”

Robin returned with the suitcase. “Ready to go, Roland?”

“Yes, Papa.”

Regina cast an eye over the apartment to see if there was anything important left behind, but it looked fine. They left and went down to the cars.

Emma was waiting for them and handed Regina the keys to the second car. While Robin got Roland settled in his carseat, Regina pulled Emma aside, out of earshot of the Bug.

“Look, I need to tell you something. And you can only tell Snow. No one else, okay? Not even your father, not until I’m sure about some things.”

“Uhh… okay. What is it?”

“Roland has magic. Not just magic potential that need to be developed, like we did. But innate talent. And more specifically, he can see through glamours and have visions of the future.”

“What? How in the world…”

“I don’t know. But that lady at Lily’s diner told me that Roland had magic, and now talking to him, he had seen through Zelena’s glamour this whole time, but since he’d never met her, and didn’t remember his mother all that well, he didn’t know that she wasn’t Marian. And he knows that I’m having a girl, and so is Zelena.”

“Well, that isn’t seeing the future, that’s a 50-50 chance…”

“Emma. Roland didn’t know that I was pregnant. He might have known that Zelena was, but he didn’t know that I was. I didn’t tell him. But he just knew. And he said that I need to protect you and Lily from the shiny man.”

“Rumplestiltskin.”

Regina nodded. “I want to keep this quiet. The more people who know that Roland has such powerful magic, the more people will want to hurt him. We can’t let that happen. I’m telling you, and we’ll tell Snow and Friar Tuck, only because they’re most likely to babysit him at any given time. But no one else. I don’t want to put him in danger.”

Emma nodded quickly. “I promise. Let’s get everyone back to Storybrooke. Then we can stop Rumplestiltskin for once and for all.”

Regina and Emma headed to their respective cars, and Emma led the way out of New York and up the coast to Storybrooke.

* * *

After Roland fell asleep in the backseat of the car, Robin looked at Regina with a worried look.

“Regina, I’m concerned for my son. About the magic.”

“You should be. From what he told me while you were packing the suitcase… he is more powerful than we thought. We need to protect him. I’ve told him to be careful with who he tells - not to say things to anyone but the two of us, Emma, Snow or Friar Tuck. But we also can’t hide his powers from him. Nor can we take them away. Nor should we.”

“What did he say to you?”

“He said that I will save everyone again. From the bad lady and the shiny man. And that most importantly I need to protect Emma and Lily.”

“The shiny man?”

“Rumplestiltskin. Has to be.”

Robin put his head in his hands. “I don’t want this for my son, Regina. Magic… I know you have it. I know that it is a part of you. But Roland…”

“It is a part of him too, Robin. There is nothing either of us can do about it. All we can do is nurture it in positive directions. But quietly. No one can know besides us and the people I named. And perhaps the fairies - they can help. It is possible that Blue or Tink can do something, create something to protect him from people who might wish him ill.”

“But then aren’t we back to magic always having a price? What we were seeking to avoid in the first place by telling Roland the truth about Zelena?”

“That’s the tricky part about magic. Magic has a price. But the form it takes isn’t always clear. But it is clearest - and costly in a bad way - when magic is used as a shortcut. Sometimes magic is the only option for something - such as returning a heart. And taking it, of course, but that is something that causes unbalance. Returning it returns the balance. That’s how magic works - when magic is the only choice, then the world has a balance. But when magic is used to unbalance the world - to create shortcuts - then that cost comes in.”

“So magical protection isn’t a shortcut, but erasing memories is?”

“Yes. The world… when you’re connected to the world with magic, you feel the balance and flow of everything. And part of that balance is truth. Not hiding it. Learning from it. That is something I didn’t understand for a long time. But it is important.”

“Even for a child?”

“Robin, you know as well as I do that you didn’t want to erase those memories for Roland’s benefit. It was for yours. You don’t want the memories of Zelena. But because you can’t get rid of your own, because that would destroy a lot of others, you think that by sparing your son those memories that that can somehow purge them from you as well. But it doesn’t work that way. It’s not the right way.”

Robin sighed. “You’re right. I know. I just don’t want it to be right. I just want to get rid of all of the memories of her, of…” He looked away from Regina and refused to meet her eyes.

Regina pulled over to the side of the highway, after quickly flashing her lights at Emma to show what she was doing. She cut the engine and pulled Robin’s hands into hers.

“Hey. Hey. Look at me.” Robin slowly looked up and met her eyes. “I know you’ve been through a lot in the past few hours. Your world has turned upside down and everything is confusing and you’re feeling all sorts of emotions. It won’t pass quickly. It will hurt. But don’t shut me out. We need each other. We need each other to get through this.”

Robin pulled one of Regina’s hands to his lips, slowly kissing each fingertip. “The world hasn’t turned upside down, Regina. In the past few hours, the world has finally turned right side up again. I just feel… tainted. I don’t deserve to be with you, not after what I’ve done…”

“Robin, you haven’t done anything wrong. You thought you were doing the honourable thing. You thought you were taking care of your family. Those are good noble goals. That it wasn’t based on truth is not your fault. You can’t blame yourself. Am I hurt that you moved on so quickly? Sure. But hope is hard. And I know I’ve fallen off the hope wagon more times than I can count. So I can’t hold it against you, and I won’t. I love you, Robin of Locksley, and I will not let you go.”

Robin’s eyes filled with tears as he kissed Regina softly. “I love you too, Regina Mills. And I’ll try to be a worthy father to all of our children. Together, we can do anything.”

“Together.” Regina repeated, also repeating Robin’s fingertip-kissing gesture. “Together we will be strong.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent and Lily have their long-awaited reunion, and Robin gets his heart back.

The group arrived in Storybrooke in mid-morning, Emma and Regina exhausted after driving all night, and Regina exhausted besides, with all of the events of the past 24 hours. Leaving Robin and Roland in her car, and Zelena in the Bug under guard by the Charmings, together Regina and Emma escorted Lily to Maleficent, who was waiting impatiently nearby.

“Maleficent, this is Lily.” Emma said. “Your daughter.”

Maleficent and Lily looked at each other, Maleficent hopeful and Lily wary. Lily dropped her mother’s gaze and looked to Regina. “I’m not good at family reunions. Mostly because I’ve never had one.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Regina said, putting her hand on her shoulder. “Mal doesn’t bite. Well, not in human form anyways. First, you could say hello.”

“Hi?” Lily said nervously.

“Hi Lily.” Mal replied, just as nervously. “So you and Regina have become friends already?”

“Yeah, um, I helped her with some stuff. In New York.”

“Is that where you were living? New York?”

“No, I was living in Lowell, Massachusetts. But Emma and Regina took me with them when they went to New York to save Robin Hood from Regina’s deranged sister.”

“And how did that go?”

Lily looked at Regina. “Maybe you better answer that one?”

Regina rubbed her forehead and looked at Mal. “Oh, you know. The usual. Finding out that my wicked sister is pregnant by my soulmate, that she had stolen his heart and was hiding it in Central Park, ending up in a magical diner being served food by a woman who used to be a teapot, finding my soulmate’s heart and being happily reunited?”

“Is that all?” Mal asked, amused. “You’ve had even more of an eventful day than my daughter here. Congratulations, by the way.”

“Congratulations on what?” Regina asked cautiously.

“Oh come now, Regina. We’re all women here. Your sister is not the only one who is pregnant. I’ve known for days. Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”

“Of course I knew. I just hadn’t… told anyone. Until I got to New York and my sister dropped the big news.”

“So what are you going to do with her? And who is she, by the way? I don’t recall you ever having a sister.”

“I didn’t either. Until she showed up from Oz to wreak havoc in my life.”

“Your sister is Zelena, the Wicked Witch?” Regina saw Mal’s demeanour change dramatically, hands curling into fists, and then wincing as her claws began to come out, and then retracted as she got her emotions under control.

“Woah, Mal, I haven’t seen you lose control of your dragon like that since… well, never. Not since you got your dragon back after that incident with King Stefan. What did Zelena do to you?”

“That’s a story for a different time. A time I am not celebrating finally being reunited with my daughter.” Mal smiled hopefully at Lily. “Want to join me for brunch? The diner here isn’t much, but it is what we’ve got in this town.”

Regina smiled encouragingly at Lily. “Go on. I’ll join you later. I just need to deliver my sister to the secure ward of the hospital.”

Mal and Lily headed off to Granny’s while Emma and Regina rejoined the group by the cars. Robin and Roland had emerged to join the Charmings and Henry.

“So what’s the plan?” David asked.

“I am going to take my sister to a secure ward at the hospital, where Dr Whale will check her out. Make sure she is actually pregnant, and then lock her up.”

“We’re coming with you.” David responded.

“This is a one-woman job.” Regina said, annoyed. “Well, three women, actually. Emma, Snow, you two are coming with me. David, if you could please take Robin and Roland to Granny’s so they can get some breakfast, or rest, or whatever feels best.”

Regina kissed Robin gently. “Once I’m done with my sister, I’ll come find you. And then you and Roland can come home.”

“Home.” Robin said, smiling. “I like the sound of that.”

“But before you go, I should return what is yours.”

“What - oh. Yes. Roland, why don’t you go with David and I’ll be along in a moment?”

“Okay, Papa. See you soon Gina!”

Regina ruffled Roland’s hair as he passed by with David. Once they were around the corner and out of sight, Snow looked at them confused.

“What is it you couldn’t return without Roland being here?” she asked.

Regina pulled out the satchel and pulled out Robin’s heart, now pulsating with its magical glow. Snow’s eyes widened.

“How was he out in the world without magic without it?”

“I don’t know.” Regina responded. “But what matters is that I found it, and I can return it to where it is supposed to be.” She turned to Robin and placed her hand with his heart against his chest. “This is going to hurt.”

Regina pushed the heart into Robin’s chest as gently as she could. His eyes widened and he gasped. She positioned it in the right place and withdrew her hand carefully. As soon as her hand was free he grabbed her and kissed her with an intensity hard enough to bruise. Eventually, Robin pulled himself back and released her arms.

“Oh, Regina. I’m so sorry for everything. I love you. I never want to be separated from you again. I want us to be together always.”

“Me too.” Regina whispered, aware of the audience. “I love you too. Don’t ever leave me again.”

They kissed again, this time lightly, and rubbed their noses against each other.

David coughed and Emma cleared her throat. Snow whacked both of them in the arms, and beamed at her stepmother, glad that Regina had, finally, found happiness.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, it's been months since I've updated this. So sorry! But we're getting back on track now.
> 
> A lot has happened OUAT-wise, since the end of season 4 when I started writing this, but that shouldn't change the basic premise of this story. I do expect that it will continue on as intended, but I might (might) end up being friendlier to Zelena as time goes on. We'll see.

Robin and Henry went to join Roland and David at Granny’s, while Emma, Snow and Regina got into the Bug to escort Zelena to the hospital. Regina sat in the back seat with her sister.

“How sweet, families are all back together.” Zelena sneered. “Makes me want to be sick. Or maybe that’s just the baby.” Zelena stretched back as much as she could in the small car. “What about you, sis? Is your baby making you sick?”

“Morning sickness happens with pregnancy.” Regina said lightly. “But I love my child. My children. So I will endure what I need to for them.”

“Endure this, sis.” Zelena was back up and glaring daggers at Regina from just an inch away. “You might think you’re a hero now. But then you’re going to take a child away from its mother? Some hero you are. If you try and take my baby, there will be consequences. Not just for you, but your whole perfect family. And especially your own child. I don’t know what you did to break that curse, but somehow you’re pregnant, and make no mistake, our babies are connected. I know it. I can feel it, even with this blasted bracelet. And trust me, I don’t need magic to make your life miserable.”

Regina flicked her wrist and restrained Zelena back in her seat, as well as taking her voice so that she could keep babbling, but the rest of them wouldn’t have to hear it. The short ride to the hospital got more bearable.

Regina and Emma escorted Zelena into the hospital with Snow trailing behind. A quick examination by Dr Whale confirmed that Zelena was indeed pregnant. While unwelcome news, this was not a surprise anymore, since she knew that Roland’s assessment could not be wrong. Magic spoke true, even if it didn’t always speak what you wanted to hear.

After Zelena was secured in the ward in the basement through a combination of locked doors and Emma and Regina’s magic, Regina, Emma and Snow returned upstairs, going back to Dr Whale.

Snow finally spoke, after having stayed silent in the car with Zelena. “So you’re pregnant, Regina? That’s so wonderful. But what did Zelena mean about a curse?”

“I believe you know yourself, Snow. I know I gave that same potion to King George to use on you, yet somehow you still managed to breed. Twice.”

“I was cured by Lake Nostos. But what about you? How did it happen? Who cursed you? Is that why you were so miserable with my father?”

“No, Snow. There was nothing wrong with me then. Well, nothing besides being heartbroken and married to a man more than twice my age that I didn’t love and who didn’t love me.”

“But he did.”

“No, Snow. He didn’t. He loved what I represented to him, but he didn’t love me. He loved you and he loved your mother. That castle was a lonely prison even before I turned to darkness. I know you have fond memories of your father, but there are sides to him that you did not see. I’m sorry, Snow.”

“You mean…”

“I don’t want to talk about it. Not right now. It is in the past.”

“But then when were you cursed?”

“I cursed myself. To spite my mother.”

“What? But then how was it cured?”

“Apparently, Robin. True Love’s Kiss with the intent to heal. That lady in New York explained it that way, anyways. I don’t really understand it.”

“Well, what matters now is that you’re healed.” Emma said. “Come on, you wanted to see Dr Whale for yourself?”

* * *

After Dr Whale gave Regina and her baby a clean bill of health, the three women headed back towards the centre of town and Granny’s.

“Regina, why did you ask me to come along?” Snow asked. “I know it wasn’t to tell me about my father and that curse.”

“I needed to tell you something that you cannot tell anyone. And I mean it this time, Snow. A child could get hurt if you tell this secret.”

“Henry? No wait, can’t be Henry. He was here. Roland? Something about Roland?”

Emma cut to the chase. “Roland has magic. Powerful magic.”

“So we need to keep a careful eye on him.” Regina continued. “The three of us are the only ones who know. Well, us and Lily and Robin. No one else can know, except for Friar Tuck. We need to keep Roland safe. And most importantly, Rumple cannot find out. Roland said that I have to protect Emma and Lily and save them from Rumple.”

“He said that?”

“Well, he said the shiny man. But how many other people do you know that fit that description?”

“Point taken.”

“So don’t even tell that charming husband of yours. Not until we know more. I’m counting on you, Snow.”

“Okay. I won’t tell. I promise.”

“I’ll hold her to that.” Emma said, looking at her mother. “We will keep Roland safe. And all of our kids.”

“Thank you.” Regina said, rubbing her stomach and realizing just how exhausted she felt after the excitement and activities of the past few days.

“You okay there, Regina?” Emma asked, looking at Regina closing her eyes in the backseat.

“Yeah, just… tired. I want to get Robin and Roland and go home.” A small smile crossed her lips at the thought.

“We can take Roland for the night if you want.” Snow said quickly.

“No… tonight I think he comes home with us.” Regina said tiredly. “Henry too, if you don’t mind Emma? I think he might need to be in on the Roland story as well.”

“That’s starting to be a long list.” Emma said.

“It is. But certainly we can trust our son.”

“Of course we can. I wouldn’t suggest otherwise. But given how many people are going to know, I’m starting to wonder if it wouldn’t almost be better for everyone to know. You know that any of the Merry Men would protect Roland in a heartbeat. Granny and the dwarves too.”

“I’ll talk to Robin, see how he feels about it. But first, we need sleep.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina's family returns to their home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be updated more regularly now! I have finished the whole story, so I will try to post on a weekly or twice-weekly basis.

Regina picked Robin, Roland and Henry up from Granny’s, and the foursome walked to Regina’s mansion. As Roland skipped ahead and Robin went to catch him, Regina hung back with Henry.

“I hope it’s okay that I’ve invited them to live in our house.” Regina said. “I should have asked you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Mom.” Henry said, giving her a hug. “Our family is getting bigger. That’s a good thing.”

“And even bigger… I don’t know if Robin told you…”

“I knew.”

Regina narrowed her eyes. “Knew what?”

“You’re pregnant.”

“How did you know that? I didn’t tell anyone.”

“You’re not as subtle as you think. I know you, Mom. I was just waiting for you to tell me.”

Regina smiled a sad smile. “My little prince is growing up.”

“I am. But that doesn’t mean I want to know the details.”

“Of course not. Nothing while you’re in the house.”

“Deal.”

Regina hugged her son and they dashed ahead to catch up with Robin and Roland, who had already made it to the gate of the mansion.

“So, Roland, how do you feel about living here instead of the forest?” Regina asked.

“Well, I like the forest, but we lived in that apartment in New York… I think this will be much nicer. Not so noisy.”

“It is much more peaceful. Like the forest. But indoors.” Robin said.

“Also safer.” Roland said. He looked up at his father with a frightened look. “I don’t think the Merry Men should be in the forest tonight, Papa.”

Robin looked at his watch. “Well, it’s the afternoon now… if I call Little John, we can get them set up in the school? Do you think that would be okay?” He was asking both Roland and Regina.

“If the school is protected.” Roland said solemnly.

“I’ll call Blue.” Regina said. “She and the fairies can come up with something.”

Roland nodded sleepily, and Henry looked at his mother and Robin for a moment, confused, but then led Roland up the walk, letting Robin and Regina confer for a moment.

“I’ll put up protection spells here.” Regina said quietly. “Because I have the feeling that the Merry Men are not the target of whatever Roland’s seeing.”

“They’re just collateral damage.” Robin finished. “He is after Roland already. But how? Would Maleficent and Lily have said anything to him?”

“No. I trust Lily. And Mal, she was just in it to find Lily. No, Rumple must have just sensed the magic coming into town. Even if he was surrounded by magic users like me and Emma and Zelena. Magic… has a unique signature. Unique to each person. If Rumple has been in Roland’s presence before, he will have felt that unique signature already.”

“When he stole your heart.” Robin breathed. “Rumplestiltskin was preparing to kill Roland if I didn’t hand it over. Forced him to move with magic.”

“That would do it.”

“Will he be safe here? Will any of us?”

“We will. I won’t let anything happen to Roland. Or any of our children.”

Robin took Regina’s hand and they rushed up the walk to join Roland and Henry. They went inside and Roland marveled at the entryway.

“It’s so big. This is your castle, Mama.”

Regina smiled. “It is. And for a long time, I lived here by myself. But then Henry came here, and now you and your Papa, and then your sisters will live here too.”

“I will take care of them. Protect them.”

“Yes you will.” Robin said gently. “You’ll be their big brother. That’s what big brothers do.”

“We need to start now.” Roland said gravely, looking at Regina. “I’ll help you, Mama. To protect the house. We need to do it now.”

“And how do you want to do that, Roland?” Regina asked carefully.

“We go to the door here, and put our hands on it. And then hold our other hands.”

Regina went along with Roland and did what he said, feeling the protection spell rush through them and enveloping the house. The spell was much stronger than ones she had cast on her own.

“Is that okay, Roland?” Regina asked, stepping back from the door.

“Yes. I want to go to sleep now. Can I go to sleep now?”

“Of course, sweetie.” Regina said. “Let’s go get you a nice room.”

Regina took Roland upstairs, and opened a spare room. It wasn’t set up for a child, but one wave of her hand and it was more appropriate, and with a forest theme to make Roland feel more at home. She pulled some pyjamas out of a drawer and handed them to him.

“When will I be able to wave my hand and make things happen like that?” Roland asked.

“I don’t know. Everyone’s magic works differently. But you also have to be very careful with it, Roland, okay? Magic might seem fun and easy, but… it can also have consequences. Do you know what consequences are?”

“Consequences…” Roland repeated the word syllable by syllable. “Bad things?”

“Not always. But sometimes. Consequences are when something happens that you didn’t think would happen. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad. That’s why you have to use magic carefully.”

“That’s something the shiny man taught you.”

“It is. How did you know that?”

“I just see them. More here than in New York. And it is hard to tell what is past and what is future. But I know that you and the shiny man aren’t friends anymore, so I know that has to be in the past.”

“Remember to be careful who you say these things to.”

“I know. Just you, Papa, Emma, Lily, Snow and Friar Tuck.” He recited the list. “What about Henry?”

“Henry is okay too.”

Roland nodded solemnly. “Okay. Goodnight, Mama.”

“Goodnight, Roland.” She kissed his forehead and left the room, closing it softly behind her, returning downstairs to Robin and Henry.

“So… Roland has magic?” Henry asked. “How did that happen?”

“I don’t know.” Regina said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

“Does that mean that Marian or I had magic in our families? None of us has ever done anything remotely magical.”

“It does just appear sometimes. My mother didn’t have any innate magical talent. But Zelena was born with it. I’d guess that her deadbeat father also didn’t have any magical abilities. But mother and I had to work at it. You can learn magic, but being born with magic… it is completely different.” Regina said, remembering what they had learned of Zelena’s past. “It is important that we are supportive, and not make him feel ashamed of it. It is a part of him.”

Robin nodded slowly, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “All right then. I’ve called Little John, told them to go to the school once classes let out. If you can call the school and arrange it? And speak to the fairies?”

Regina nodded tiredly. “Well, I’m not sure how the fairies will respond to me yet. I’ll call Snow, she can sort the school and the fairies.”

“All right.” Robin agreed.

Regina reached for her phone, but Henry stopped her.

“Mom. I can see you’re exhausted. Go. Get some rest. Both of you. I’ll call Grandma.”

“Thanks Henry.” Regina said, kissing him on the forehead. “Are you going to hang around here? Or go back to Emma’s?”

“I’m pretty sure Mom is also going to be sleeping. She’s also had a busy few days. I’ll stay here. Maybe even prepare some dinner.”

“So grown up.” Regina said, a bit tearfully. “Okay. We’d like that. We won’t sleep for too long.”

“It’s okay Mom. You need rest. I’ll be okay until then.”

Regina gave Henry a hug and then she and Robin made their way upstairs, collapsing into bed without even getting undressed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina and Robin discuss life choices, followed by Hood-Mills family dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh... last night's episode. First I was sad, then I was angry. For those of you who have seen it, you'll know what I mean, and I imagine probably have the same feelings.
> 
> I have all sorts of feels, so I'm writing fix-it fic for that as well, but will continue posting chapters of this happier alternate reality, because I have the feeling that fic is where I am going to live now. Canon just sucks.

Regina woke up a few hours later to a delicious smell of dinner coming from downstairs. She sighed, happy and content that her family was back together.

At the sound of her sigh, Robin awoke, cuddling up to her, running his lips over her neck. “Morning, milady. Or afternoon, as it were.”

“Hello yourself.” Regina said, smiling and turning to face Robin. “Did you get some sleep?”

“Aye, I did. That was the best sleep I’ve had in a very long time. And I actually mean sleep this time.”

Regina chuckled, remembering the last time Robin had used that line, after their one night together. She kissed him gently and sat up.

“Just going to change into some new clothes. Then it seems like Henry has dinner ready for us.”

“You’ve got a wonderful boy.”

“I want him to not want for the things that I wanted when I was a child.”

“Love. Care. Family.”

Regina bit her lip and nodded. “I had my father. He was all I really had, with my mother being lost to the dark magic. And Daniel. But Henry has so much more.”

“He’s a lucky boy, having two mothers who love him as much as they do.”

“And the grandparents. Even if one of his grandparents is trying to kill us right now.”

“Right, Rumplestiltskin. You know, I met Baelfire back in the Enchanted Forest, helped him get to Neverland. Never would have occurred to me that the Dark One had a child.”

“He had Baelfire before he was the Dark One. And lost him because of it. That’s why Storybrooke exists… I was the one who cast the curse that created it, because that was what Rumple molded me to be. My whole life, I thought I was making the choices… but it turns out that all of them, until I got to Storybrooke, were designed for me. That’s why this book, this Author… I want to feel like I am in control of my life again.”

“You are, Regina. We will find the Author, but I promise you, you are in control of your own destiny. Your own choices.”

“I hope so.” Regina sighed. She stood up and looked at Robin over her shoulder. “Care to join me for a quick shower? Just a shower. Nothing… nothing else. Not yet. Not to mention Henry’s home.”

“Of course, milady. I understand. And yes, I shall join you.”

Robin stood and followed Regina to the washroom, where they quickly divested each other of their clothes. Regina led Robin into her shower - an intricate expensive creation with multiple jets - and turned on the water. Robin stood under one of the streams, sighing in relief.

“That happy about it?” Regina teased, slipping up in front of him, kissing him softly.

“Aye.” Robin said, opening his eyes and looking at Regina, rubbing his thumbs over her jawline. “I want to wash away everything of the past weeks, so I can remember only you. Us. Forget what your sister did to me.”

“Just tell me how I can help. But remember, you’re not dirty. You don’t need to feel ashamed. She was the one who did something - many things - wrong. Not you. It is not your fault. It is not Roland’s fault. She wrapped you up in a web of her lies.”

“I know. And I try to tell myself that. But still, it… there’s a child. And it is not the child’s fault. I will still love my daughter, Regina.”

“I know. I would be worried if you didn’t. It’s not her fault, how she was conceived. And we can hope… we can hope that Zelena will change too. Become a better person. A mother. The way she is right now, no, but given time… and a lot of second chances…” Regina smiled ruefully. “I know I blew the first second chances I got too. People were a lot kinder to me than I deserved. And gave me more chances than they should have. If I don’t grant Zelena the same opportunities… I hope you understand that.”

“I do. I hope that one day in the future you can be the sisters that you should have been able to be for all those lonely years both of you endured. You deserve that.”

“Thank you Robin.” Regina pulled him in for a deep kiss and he responded enthusiastically, pulling her flush to his body as the water splashed down around them.

After a minute, Regina broke the kiss and stepped back. “Now, we really should just get to that shower. And then dinner.”

“Yes, milady.”

* * *

Freshly showered and dressed, Regina and Robin joined Henry in the kitchen, where he’d already been joined by Roland. Roland was beaming at the table that he had set under Henry’s direction.

“What’s for dinner, young sir Henry?” Robin asked.

“Nothing too complicated.” Henry said. “Lasagna. Caesar salad. Fresh breadsticks.”

“Did you make all of this?” Regina asked in wonderment. “Without leaving the house?”

“Yup.” Henry smiled.

“How?” Regina questioned.

Henry shrugged. “Well, you always have the ingredients for lasagna around. The Internet told me the rest.”

Regina shook her head in amazement. “Well, good job. Let’s eat!”

The foursome crowded around the table, eager to eat, Robin and Henry on one side of the table, Regina and Roland on the other. Regina served food onto Roland’s plate, and cut it for him like she had done for Henry for many years.

“Thank you, Mama.” Roland said and Regina smiled.

Henry looked over at Robin. “Does this mean that I’m supposed to call you Dad?”

“However you feel comfortable, Henry.” Robin said. “You already had a father, you have two mothers, not to mention all of the other father figures in your life. I won’t be offended if you don’t want to complicate it further.”

“Did you know my dad?”

“Briefly, but yes. Roland and I helped him get to Neverland to save you from Peter Pan. He was quite determined, nothing was going to stand in his way.”

Henry smiled, looking down at his lap. “He loved me.”

“He did. Even if he didn’t get to spend a lot of time with you, once he knew he had a son… nothing would stop him from protecting you. We remember him as a hero. Baelfire was a good man.”

“Thanks.” Henry said. “Maybe later I will call you Dad. But… I’m not ready for that yet.”

“That’s perfectly fair, Henry.” Robin said. “No pressure. But I do hope you won’t mind if I spend a lot of time with your mother. Well, this mother. Regina.”

“I can live with that.” Henry said. “But know that if you hurt her again, there will be trouble. So don’t hurt her.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Regina smiled, hearing Robin use his favourite turn of phrase with her son. The family settled down to a peaceful dinner, enjoying each other’s company.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hood-Mills family receive an unwanted visitor.

As soon as the dinner plates were cleared away, Regina’s phone rang, and she picked it up.

“Trouble might be headed your way, your majesty.” A hoarse whisper said into the phone. “Rumplestiltskin was just here at the school. Our spells kept him back, but make no mistake, he’s on the hunt.”

“Blue? Is that you?” Regina asked.

“Yes. Just protect the boy.”

“How did you know… does Rumplestiltskin know?”

“We’ve taken care of Robin’s son before. We could feel his magic even then, even though it wasn’t yet active. But it’s growing, Regina. We can all feel it. Any magic user could. Guard yourselves against Rumplestiltskin. We don’t know why Rumplestiltskin wants him.”

“I do.” Regina said with a tight voice. “Thanks, Blue. We’ll be fine here.”

Regina hung up the phone and looked at Robin. “Rumplestiltskin’s coming.”

“Here? Now?” Robin asked. “How could he know so soon?”

“He wants my help finding something.” Roland said, looking up at Regina. “But I don’t want to help him. Not with what he wants to do.”

“You don’t need to help him.” Regina said. “He won’t be able to get in here.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, dearie.” Rumplestiltskin said, appearing behind them.

“How did you get in here?” Regina demanded, putting herself between Roland and the Dark One.

“Blood magic. Not the typical sort, but then, when have we ever been typical.”

“But you’re not related to me. Or Roland.”

“That’s where the not typical part comes in.”

“Explain yourself.” Robin asked, moving around the table to stand next to Regina.

“Maybe you should do the honours, thief.”

Robin closed his eyes. “The wand.”

“You stole some of my power and used it on your wife to save your son. That doesn’t come without, shall we say… side effects.”

“Magic always comes with a price.” Regina intoned.

“Quite right, dearie. And I’ve come to collect.”

“No.” Robin said firmly. “You are not taking my son.”

“He’s right.” Regina said. “You are not taking him.”

“Oh come on now.” Rumplestiltskin said. “When I rewrite our endings, you can have the life you always dreamed of. I can make it such that you went into the tavern. That you met your soulmate, and avoided all of - well, most of - the unpleasantness of your life. No curse. No years of hunting Snow White.”

“But then I wouldn’t have Henry. Or Roland. Or my daughter.” Regina ran her hand over her stomach.

“No, you wouldn’t. But you could be an outlaw with a whole brood of different children. Just hand him over.”

“No.” Regina said forcefully. “No. I will not erase people I care about for a story that you made up. This is reality. I will live in it. I’ve made peace with my past. I will not rewrite my story. That’s the coward’s way out.” Regina walked towards Rumplestiltskin and stared him down from just inches away. “And you, Rumple, have always been a coward.”

Rumplestiltskin sighed. “I was afraid you would say that.” He started to sweep his hand in a disappearing gesture - probably meant to include Roland as well, despite Robin’s firm grip on him - but was then blasted back by a pulse of white light from Regina.

While Rumplestiltskin was on the ground, Regina looked back at Robin and Roland, but both looked just as confused as she was.

“Well, well, dearie.” Rumplestiltskin said, getting to his feet. “Looks like that newest child of yours has even more power. And while I would love to explore it, I don’t quite feel like getting minced today. I will find another way for the Author to do his work.”

Rumplestiltskin waved his hand again, disappearing himself - and only himself - in a swirl of red smoke. Regina let out a breath and turned back to her family.

“Seems like Roland isn’t the only new magic user we’ve discovered recently.” Robin said. “It appears our child is very powerful as well.”

“And she’s not even born yet.” Regina said, running her hand over her stomach again and sitting down, suddenly tired from the burst of magic.

“We’ll take care of her, Mama.” Roland said, coming to hug her. “I know we will. But he’s not finished trying to hurt people.”

“Do you know where he’s going next?” Regina asked. “Can you tell?”

Roland scrunched up his face in thought. “No. No one else is in danger right now. But soon. Remember - he wants to hurt Emma and Lily too.”

“We won’t let him.” Henry said. “We won’t let him hurt anyone.”

“Henry, why don’t you take Roland upstairs and you can show him some of the toys that you had when you were his age?” Regina said. “I know you might be up past your bedtimes soon, but with the excitement of the day and the nap… I think it’s okay.”

“Sure, Mom.” Henry said, kissing her on the cheek and taking the younger boy upstairs, knowing that his mother and Robin had a lot to discuss.

Robin slumped into the chair next to Regina. “So that’s why Roland has magic. Because of Rumplestiltskin. Because I used magic to save his life.”

Regina shook her head. “I don’t think so. People have been saved by magic before without having magic themselves. The magic is separate.”

“But the imp just said…”

“He said that that’s why he could get around the protection spell that Roland and I cast. Because while it didn’t give him magic, that wand did give Roland and Marian life. And that life is tied to Rumple.”

“So it doesn’t matter where Roland goes, Rumplestiltskin can still get to him?”

“No. It just means that Roland can’t help with the protection spells, because they’ll let Rumple through. It’s okay though. There’s another one in the house now, with what my - our - baby did just now. I can tell. Two layers of protection against anyone who would wish us ill. While we’re in here anyway.”

Robin kissed Regina lightly. “So our daughter… she has magic too.”

“And so does Zelena’s daughter. They’re connected somehow. And not only because of you. But because she and I are sisters.”

“Our lives are like one of those awful programs I saw on television while we were living in New York. Marian - I mean Zelena - liked watching them. They were on every day. I suppose now I understand why.”

“Soap operas.” Regina said. “Somehow I could see my sister connecting to those. Chaotic families would be better than the no family she grew up with.”

“Do you think my daughter with her is in danger? From Rumplestiltskin?”

“No. She’s locked up tight behind my protection spell. She’ll be just fine.”

“What about you?” Robin asked, putting his hand on Regina’s. “The past few days…”

“We’ll get through it.” Regina said, smiling. “It’s what we do.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina and Roland talk about the nature of magic.

After Robin and Regina relaxed with glasses of wine, Regina went upstairs to send the boys off to bed.

“Okay, Roland.” Regina said. “It’s been an exciting evening, but it is time for you to go to bed now.”

Roland looked up from Henry’s floor, where he had been playing with cars with the older boy. “Look, Mama! Henry has a car just like yours!” He held up a miniature version of her Mercedes.

Regina smiled. “So he does. But come on now. I’m sure Henry has some homework he needs to do.” Regina looked at Henry with a stern face.

“Of course, Mom. Goodnight Roland.”

Roland said goodnight to Henry and followed Regina out of Henry’s room. When they went into his room, he sat down on the bed quietly and didn’t say anything.

“What’s wrong, Roland?” Regina asked, sitting down beside him.

“The magic… what I can do… is that because of Rum… Rump… the shiny man? Does that mean I’ll be bad like him, instead of good like you?”

Regina stroked the boy’s curly hair, wondering how much she should tell him of her past. “No. He didn’t give you magic. His magic saved the life of your Mama Marian while you were in her tummy. That’s what connected you to him so that he could get past our very powerful spell. But the magic was already a part of you.”

“Then why wasn’t my magic strong enough to help Mama? Like your baby helped you get rid of the shiny man?”

“Everyone’s magic is different. Some people are born with it. Some people learn it. But even if you’re born with it, that doesn’t mean that you can use it right from the beginning. If it did, then I don’t think Zelena would have let our mother give her away.”

“But is my magic still good?”

“If you want it to be good, it will be good. That’s the special thing about magic. But you have to always remember to think of the good thing, and do the good thing. Because if you forget that…” Regina trailed off.

“Like you forgot? When you were mad at Snow White?”

“Did you look into the past and see that?”

Roland nodded.

“Be careful. There are things in my past that even a brave young knight like you shouldn’t be looking at. But yes. I did bad things. I was very sad, and very angry. The family I wanted was taken away from me. But… now I have a new family. And I remember every day to be thankful for that. To be good.”

“I’ll be good.” Roland promised. “The shiny man and the lady of hearts made you be bad. But I have you and Papa and Henry and Emma. You won’t let me be bad.”

“You’re right. And you know what good boys do?” Regina asked. “They brush their teeth and get into bed so that their Papas can tell them bedtime stories.”

Roland nodded vigorously. “Good.” Regina said. “You get ready and I’ll go get your Papa.”

Regina went back downstairs, where Robin was sitting on the couch reading a book. She looked at the cover.

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?” Regina asked, arching an eyebrow. “Interesting choice.”

“Just curious about this world’s interpretations of our stories. When I was in New York, I saw a movie on the television where I was a fox. This couldn’t be any worse than that.”

Regina chuckled. “True enough. Now, I promised Roland that you would tell him a bedtime story. After reassuring him that his magic isn’t evil. But… he looked into my past. Saw that I wasn’t always who I am now.”

“He would have learned eventually. But I hope that means he understands the consequences that magic can have.”

“For his age? I think he understood very well. He said it wasn’t my fault, that I was just doing what the shiny man and the lady of hearts had turned me into. And that since he’s surrounded by good people, he doesn’t need to worry about that.”

“Let’s hope that remains true.” Robin said. “Now I don’t mean I think you’ll return to darkness, I’m just worried about others who might try to take him.”

“We’re protected here.” Regina said. “Don’t worry. For now at least, he’s safe.”

“Thank you, Regina.” Robin kissed her and stood up. “Now, I believe I had a bedtime story to tell.”

“I’ll meet you in the bedroom.” Regina said, letting go of his hand. “I’ll just make sure Henry is settled into his homework and then we can all rest.”

“Rest, milady?” Robin arched his eyebrow.

Regina smirked. “Yes. Rest.”

“As milady wishes.” Robin bowed to Regina, and disappeared up the stairs.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin and Regina relax and take some time for themselves to reconnect. (Warning: There's sex.)

The boys safely settled in their rooms, Regina returned to her bedroom, preparing it for the evening. She put fresh sheets on the bed, and set up a bubble bath in the tub of her ensuite. She lit some candles and put them around the tub. After adding some scented oils, she pinned her hair up and slipped into the water, dozing off among the bubbles.

She was startled back to wakefulness when she felt someone else slip into the tub next to her. She opened her eyes and smiled. Robin.

“Hello, milady.” Robin said, wrapping his arms around Regina’s waist and kissing her temple. “Is it entirely safe to fall asleep in the water like this?”

“I would have woken up if I went under the surface.” Regina retorted. “This isn’t my first bubble bath.”

“I have to say, this is an interesting invention.” Robin said, playing with some of the bubbles, making Regina a crown of them.

“There’s more.” She said, turning on the underwater jets. They watched the level of bubbles rise, and Robin moaned in pleasure as the jets hit some of his sore muscles.

“I do love some of the inventions of this land.” Robin said.

“But not all of them?” Regina teased.

“Garbage disposals in the sink. Those frighten me.”

Regina chuckled. “Well, with the babies, you’ll meet a lot more new technology. For example, you’ll get to see them. Before they’re born.”

“Is there some sort of magic that makes your womb see-through?” Robin asked, furrowing his brow.

“No, nothing like that. But a special wand that takes pictures and allows you to see what the baby looks like.”

“A bit strange, but I suppose there are stranger things in this land.”

“There are. But we don’t need to worry about them right now.” Regina said, adjusting their positions so that she was sitting between his legs, his hands resting on her belly, which he stroked gently.

“Who would have thought…” Robin mused. “Just a few months ago, it was just me and Roland and the Merry Men. And now my family is so much bigger. And still growing.”

Regina smiled. “It does tend to do that. Especially in this town. Everyone has some sort of connection to everyone.”

“I wonder, will it grow even more? I mean, after these babies?”

“We’ll see.”

Regina rested back against Robin, while one of his hands started moving lower down her belly.

“Is this okay?” He whispered. “I don’t want to push. Not with everything that’s happened.”

“It’s okay.” Regina said. “I want to feel you again. But the children…”

“… are in their rooms. And we’re just having an innocent bath together.”

“Innocent. Right.”

“Nothing that they can see or hear. As long as we don’t make too much noise.” His hand had slipped even lower now, fingers ghosting over her clit.

“Careful.” Regina breathed. “Things are extra sensitive right now. Because of the baby.”

“I’ll just have to be gentle.” Robin whispered into her ear, peppering kisses along her neck as he began to stroke her clit more firmly. “But I want to see you in the throes of joy and passion again. You deserve it, my love.”

Regina dropped her head back on Robin’s shoulder as she spread her legs as much as the tub would allow to give Robin better access. He alternated between firm and gentle strokes, teasing her entrance lightly with his thumb, but not going in. A few minutes of these gentle touches and she came apart, whispering his name as the orgasm flooded through her.

Robin moved his hand to her thigh and kissed her neck. “See? Perfectly quiet.”

Regina lifted her head from his shoulder and pulled him in for a deep kiss. “I think we might need a sound-cloaking spell for what comes next.” She teased.

“Oh? And what might that be?” Robin wondered.

Regina stood up in one smooth movement, stepping out onto the bathmat. She leaned down to pull a towel off the shelf, giving Robin a good show before turning back to him, wrapping herself in the towel and passing another along to him as he stood.

“Oh, you know. Just your average innocent fun between two adults in a bedroom.”

As Robin stepped out onto the bathmat to join her, Regina swept her hand around, enveloping the bedroom and ensuite with a silencing cloak.

“And don’t worry. That just means they can’t hear in. But we can still hear out. Just in case.” Regina assured him.

“Very well then, milady. How can I be of service to the realm today?” Robin bowed to her.

“I believe you have already provided indispensable services today. But there is still work to be done. Follow me.”

They left their towels in the bathroom, and Robin followed Regina to the bedroom, where he watched her settle herself amongst the pillows before inviting him to join her. He crawled up the bed between her legs to kiss her, and she pulled him in tight.

“Never leave me again, Robin.” She whispered, suddenly sad. “I couldn’t handle it again.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, milady.” Robin said, stroking her face. “I will always be here for you now. For you, for our children, for our whole wild and crazy family. Don’t doubt that.”

“I love you.” Regina said.

“I love you too.”

“Now make love to me.” Regina whispered into his ear.

Balancing himself on his forearms after adjusting one of Regina’s legs to a new higher position, he entered her, watching her eyelids flutter as he slipped deeper and deeper into her.

“Yes…” She breathed, tensing her muscles, squeezing him and making him gasp as well, trying to keep his concentration as he moved within her. He didn’t move too quickly or too hard, not as hard as she might have sometimes liked, taking care because of the extra sensitivity.

After some minutes, Regina rolled them carefully, putting herself on top, controlling her movements. She slid herself up and down his shaft with grace, taking Robin into her over and over again until they both spent themselves. Regina swept her hair back and moved off of him carefully, running her hand over his sweaty chest, pulling him in for a kiss.

“I guess we can pull it off without being too loud.” She whispered. “But just in case, the spell helps.” Regina waved her hand and dropped the spell from the room.

“Indeed.” Robin agreed. “Now sleep, my love. We’ve got an imp to stop in the morning.”

“Go on and ruin the moment.” Regina grumbled. “But you’re right. Goodnight, Robin.”

“Goodnight, Regina.”

Robin pulled the blankets up over them and they fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prophetic nightmare sets the pieces in motion.

Regina had just fallen asleep was she was awakened by a loud scream coming from Roland’s room. Robin started awake as well, and Regina quickly tossed him his shorts while she threw on her bathrobe and they ran down the hall.

Henry was already there with the younger boy, trying to calm him, but he wouldn’t have any of Henry’s attention. He looked up as Regina and Robin ran into the room, focusing in on Regina.

“Mama, You have to call Emma and Lily!” Roland shouted. “The shiny man is coming for them. He’s coming for them right now!”

“Prophetic dream.” Regina said, looking at Robin. He nodded. Not wasting any time, Regina waved her hand and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, while Robin went in to comfort his son.

“Regina’s going to help Emma right now, my boy.” Robin said, picking him up and holding him in his lap. “We’ll make sure they’re safe.”

“I saw it.” Roland sniffled into his father’s chest. “In my dream.”

“I believe you.”

“If Mama works with Emma, she can make sure they’re safe.”

“That’s what she’s gone to do. No one is going to get hurt. We’ll all be safe from Rumplestiltskin.” Robin tried to rock his son back to sleep.

“I hope so.”

Robin met Henry’s eyes over Roland’s head, and saw that Henry was also concerned. Concerned both for Roland and his ever-growing magical abilities, and for Regina and whatever she was about to materialize into. While every bone in Robin’s body wanted to run out of the house and run for the Charmings’ loft to help, he knew that he couldn’t leave their children alone. He had to trust that Regina and Emma would be able to handle it.

* * * * *

Regina didn’t know what time it was when she materialized in the Charmings’ loft, but all of the lights were off as she landed in the living room. She swept them on with one hand and as if on cue, Neal started crying. The Charmings started awake, Charming already going for his sword, stopping when he saw it was Regina.

“Regina, what are you doing here?” he asked. “It’s the middle of the night.”

Emma ran down the stairs. “And why are you in your bathrobe?”

“Roland just woke up from a dream. He said that Rumple was coming for you and Lily right now.”

“Roland?” Charming looked at her in confusion. “A toddler’s bad dream has you materializing in our living room in the middle of the night?”

“Sorry we didn’t say anything to you, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.” Snow said, coming up with the crying baby in her arms. “Roland has magic. Powerful magic. I’m guessing that comes with prophetic dreams?”

“More than likely. Considering how insistent he’s been on how we need to protect Emma and Lily, and the fact that Rumple appeared in our living room last night after dinner, to try and take him, I’ll believe it.”

“Regina, then you should get back to your family.” Emma said. “What if Gold sent Roland fake dreams to try and get to him again?”

“I have enough of a protection spell on there right now that he shouldn’t be able to get to Roland. But maybe for safety’s sake, all of you and Lily and Mal should all come there as well. Then we can add on some extra protection spells, as can Mal. Rumple might have blood magic connections to many of us, but he doesn’t to her. Emma, how is your teleportation?”

“If I have to, I can do it. With my parents and brother?”

“Yes.”

“How will I be able to get through the protection spells?”

“They’re only blocking Rumple. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting in. If you do, then just wait in the garage with your own protection spell while I go get Mal and Lily.”

Emma nodded. Her parents grabbed on to her, and they vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

Turning on her heel, Regina thought of Maleficent and vanished into a cloud of purple smoke, hoping that the memory of her old friend would lead to her and her daughter.

* * * * *

Of all the places that Regina was expecting to appear in her search for Mal and Lily, a dark corner of the Rabbit Hole was not one of them. Both of the women started as Regina appeared right in front of them.

“Regina!” Mal slurred. “How nice of you to join us. And while I know this isn’t a particularly upscale place, I would’ve thought that you’d wear something a bit nicer.”

Mal was drunk. Mal was never drunk. Regina wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad sign.

“There’s danger, Mal. Danger coming for your daughter.” Regina looked at Lily, who seemed slightly tipsy, but not nearly as drunk as her mother.

“Rumple?” Mal asked.

“Yes. We have to go, now.”

“No, I mean Rumple. He’s here.” Mal pointed behind her.

Regina turned and saw Rumple standing not too far off, giving a little wave and smirk. “Hello, dearie. Busy night?”

She didn’t wait another second. She grabbed Mal and Lily and vanished in another cloud of purple smoke.

* * * * *

They landed in the living room of the mansion, almost right on top of the Charmings. Regina and Lily kept their footing, but Mal stumbled and dropped to the floor. Robin, Henry and Roland were just coming down the stairs.

“That was close.” Regina breathed, looking at Robin and then Emma. “I found them in the Rabbit Hole. Just before Rumple did. He was there. I was faster.”

Emma nodded and looked at Lily. “What were you two doing in that dive?”

“Drinking, what do you think?” Lily asked. “It’s been a stressful day.”

Regina helped Mal to her feet. “You don’t usually get drunk.”

Mal waved her hand. “What my daughter said. Stressful day. But I can tell that something else is afoot now. Regina, if you would be a dear?”

Regina sighed and waved her hand at Mal, curing her drunkenness. Mal straightened up and smoothed down her skirt. “So what’s this all about?” she demanded to know.

“Rumple needs Emma and Lily to find the Author and get him to rewrite his story.” Regina said.

“Which, if he’s doing the storytelling, is bound to end up with all of us in a lot of trouble.” Charming said, understanding the situation.

“Exactly.” Regina said. “He offered me the opportunity to change my story earlier today. I refused him. I’m not proud of the choices I made in the past, but I’ve learned to live with them. I’ve learned to live with the past, because without it, I wouldn’t have the present that I have now. And I wouldn’t trade that away for anything.” Robin came up beside her and hugged her, wrapping an arm around her, stroking her stomach. Henry and Roland also came up to join them.

“But why are we all here?” Lily asked.

“Protection spell. Rumple can’t get through it. If Emma and Mal add their own protection spells as well, then that makes all of us safer while we can formulate a plan.”

On cue, Emma and Mal both stepped up to add their layers of protection to the mansion, which was now practically glowing under the effects of all of the spells on it, at which point Regina added another cloak, so that it wasn’t shining as brightly.

“I recommend we all get some rest.” Regina said. “There should be plenty of room for everyone. Lily, Mal, there’s a guest room behind the kitchen with two beds that should do for you. Snow, you, Charming and Neal can have the living room here, I can bring up Henry’s old crib from the basement for Neal. Emma, you can have Roland’s room, Roland can sleep in Henry’s.”

“I want to be with you and Papa.” Roland said, looking up at her. “Don’t want any more dreams.”

Regina picked him up. “Okay, Roland. Your Papa and I will keep you safe.” She kissed the boy on the forehead and passed him over to Robin. “I’ll be up in a minute, okay?”

Roland nodded and his father carried him upstairs. Regina went down to the basement to haul out the crib. She dusted it off and Charming helped her carry it up the stairs into the living room. That done, Regina directed Mal and Lily to the guest room. Lily went in right away and collapsed on one of the beds, but Mal hung back.

“You still haven’t explained why you’re in your bathrobe.” Mal said, bemused. “You can trust me, Regina. I’m not working with Rumple anymore. It has to do with that boy, doesn’t it? The thief’s son?”

“My son now too.”

“Semantics. But it has to do with him, doesn’t it? Did he have a prophetic dream? Is that why you grabbed us right before Rumple could do… whatever it was he wanted to do?”

Regina sighed. “It is. He’s powerful, Mal. And he’s just a kid.”

“I’m sure you’ll teach him right.” Mal put a reassuring hand on Regina’s arm. “Good night, Regina.”

“Good night, Mal.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin and Regina discuss the nature of magic.

Regina went upstairs, making sure everyone was settled with enough blankets and pillows on the way. Finally getting to her own room, she tiredly closed the door behind her, leaning back up against it.

Robin was there, kissing her gently. “Hey. You all right?”

“I will be. Is Roland asleep?”

“Yes. He was exhausted after all of that. I don’t blame him.”

“It’s not going to be easy. For him. For any of us. And I’m not just talking about dealing with Rumple.”

“I know it’s a part of him, but… is there anything you can do? To even slow the progress at which it manifests?”

“There isn’t. The only ways to control magic are to learn how to use it properly, or to destroy it entirely. And destroying it, well…”

“That destroys more than just the magic.” Robin finished, resting his head against the doorframe and closing his eyes.

“Exactly. I’ll start working with him on how to exercise control over it, so it is less instinctual and more targeted. I was hoping we could wait until he was older… but at the rate it’s growing, sooner rather than later is a better plan.”

Robin straightened up and nodded, kissing her gently. “I’m glad he will have you for a teacher. That he shan’t be corrupted by the likes of Rumple.”

“It’s not going to be easy.” Regina said. “You know that. It’s taken me a lot of work to relearn many strands of my magic. To turn it light instead of dark. Because while I I don’t want to corrupt Roland… Rumple did corrupt me. So before I do anything, I need to make sure those strands of my magic that I need to work with with Roland are light. Some of my dark magic is still more instinctual than anything.”

“Such as? I’ve only seen you do light magic recently.”

“The teleportation.” Regina said. “It isn’t something I usually use unless I need to make a point, and I’m usually making a point because I’m angry. So it is still of a dark variety.”

“I don’t think it was tonight.” Robin said.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen you disappear before. Usually into a cloud of dark purple smoke. This evening, when you disappeared from Roland’s room, it was of a lighter shade of purple. With what looked like starlight in it. And when you appeared with Maleficent and Lily, the light was even brighter. You’re changing, your magic is changing, a lot faster than you might think.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.” Robin brushed a few strands of hair out of Regina’s face and kissed her again, stroking her jawline with his thumb. “I trust you. I trust you to do right by my - our - son.”

“Thank you Robin.” Regina whispered.

“Now we should get some rest. Come on now.”

Robin and Regina got into bed, their son between them, and went back to sleep.

* * * * *

Regina awoke to Roland’s feet in her ribs, but smiled anyway, happy that her family was here, under her roof and safe. The sun was already well up into the sky, meaning they had slept a lot longer than they should have.

Regina looked over to the other side of the bed, but Robin was gone. She slipped out of bed, trying not to wake Roland, but the boy stirred anyway.

“Mama?” He asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Hey Roland.” Regina said, sitting back down on the edge of the bed. “Did you have any more dreams?”

“No. I think everyone is okay. Here in the house we are safe.”

“Good. That’s good. Now, let’s hope that Emma’s awake so that we can get you some clothes so you don’t have to eat breakfast in your pyjamas.”

Roland hopped out of bed and the two of them went down the hall. The door to Roland’s room was ajar, so it appeared that Emma had already vacated the room. Sure enough, she had, and Regina pulled Roland’s clothes out of his suitcase.

“Once Rumplestiltskin is dealt with, we’ll get some more clothes for you, okay?” Regina said. “I know in the forest, and in New York, you probably didn’t get a lot of new clothes. But now you can. And I still have some of Henry’s old clothes in the basement as well, if you need more.”

“Thank you Mama.” Roland said. “For Papa too?”

Regina laughed. “Well, your Papa won’t fit into Henry’s clothes, but we will find him some new clothes too.”

She left the room, closing the door behind her, returning to her own room to get dressed. She found some fresh clothes quickly, ran her brush through her hair, then added a few touches of makeup before returning to Roland. The boy was dressed, and they headed down to the kitchen, where she could already hear everyone else.

“Regina! Roland!” Robin came over and hugged them both. “Sorry for leaving, I just… we have guests, and both of you needed to rest more. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Of course.” Regina said, giving Robin a quick kiss. “How have we sorted out breakfast? I hope you didn’t destroy my kitchen.”

“Of course not, milady.” Robin said. “We called Granny and she delivered.”

“How nice of her.” Regina said, surveying the room full of takeout cartons and dishes. Henry came up to her with a plate of apple pancakes. “Pancakes, Mom?”

“Thanks Henry.” Regina took the plate as Henry led Roland off to pick his breakfast.

“So any news this morning?” Regina asked Robin.

“Not so far. Just breakfast. I believe the pirate will probably want in at some point today, and we’ll need Belle’s knowledge and books, assuming Rumple hasn’t made them all disappear.”

Regina nodded. “And then there’s that pesky Author.”

“Who you don’t need anymore.”

“I don’t. But Rumple does. He’s dangerous, Robin.”

“Rumplestiltskin? I thought we already knew that.”

“No. The Author. As much as it feels like we should be in control of our own choices… that page that appeared to you… someone is controlling things. Perhaps they shouldn’t be, that might be where the flaw in the system is, but we need to find him. Find him and see what the truth is.”

“And then perhaps we’ll have some peaceful quiet time? Just us and our family?” Robin wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in for a kiss as she moved her breakfast plate out of the way.

“I sure hope so.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The War Council convenes to find a way to deal with the Dark One.

Once breakfast was over, Henry took Roland and Neal upstairs, promising to call if they needed anything. Emma called Hook and Belle, and both of them came over to the mansion, the protection spell admitting them, somewhat assuring Regina that they were in fact who they claimed to be, rather than Rumplestiltskin in disguise. For if Rumplestiltskin were to look for a way in, it would have been through either of them.

Before they came all the way into the house, however, Regina stopped them. “I’m sorry, but I need to do one more test, to make sure you’re not the Dark One.”

“Test, your majesty?” Hook asked, as Regina shot out both hands, one into each of their chests, to pull out and examine their hearts.

As she expected, Hook’s heart was somewhat blackened, but not nearly as bad as her own, and Belle’s was almost pristine. Neither could be a Dark One’s heart. Nodding, she shoved them back into their chests. Hook and Belle both winced as their hearts were returned.

“Was that really necessary?” Emma asked, coming up beside them.

“Yes.” Regina said. “I’m not taking any chances when it comes to my family.”

“Fair enough.” Hook groaned. “It’s not like I haven’t had my heart ripped out of my chest recently or anything.”

“And I would say the same.” Belle said, glaring at Regina. “I know you did it to me before you left town.”

“I know. And I’m sorry. But I needed to have some insurance. To protect Robin and his son. Surely you can understand that.”

“I can. But why didn’t you ask?”

“You offered to help. You agreed. If Rumple erased your memory of that, that is an issue with him, not with me.”

Belle sighed. “Well, let’s get to it shall we? If there’s anything we can do to stop his plan, then that’s what we need to be doing now.”

They all gathered around the dining room table, reminiscent of the war council room in the Enchanted Forest, only square. It being her house, Regina sat at the head of the table, Robin standing beside her. Emma sat at the other end of the table with Hook beside her, mirroring Regina. Belle, Snow and Charming sat on one side of the table, Maleficent and Lily on the other.

“So we know that Rumple’s plan involves the Author. If Rumple has the Author - which he may well - then why hasn’t he changed anything yet?” Regina asked the room.

“He does have the Author.” Hook said. “When I was in Granny’s this morning, they were there. Not writing. Arguing. So having the Author under his control isn’t enough.”

“To write you need two things.” Belle said. “A writing tool, and ink.”

“A quill.” Regina said. “It would be poetic. Rumple has a lot of those, so I would not be surprised if he has this magic quill as well.”

“So that leaves us with ink.” Charming said. “He needs ink, and he doesn’t have it. And somehow everything he’s been doing - going for Roland, going for Emma and Lily, wanting Emma to turn dark - must have something to do with it.”

“He didn’t object to me and Regina leaving town.” Emma said. “I’m sure he could have stopped us. But knowing that we were going to find Lily, he let us go.”

“It’s the darkness.” Lily said, looking up. “Has to be. If Rumplestiltskin wanted Emma to go dark, but was happy enough with me coming to town all full of that darkness, that has to be it, right? Since Emma and I are connected?”

“I think you’re right.” Snow said. “He needed Emma dark. When he didn’t get that, he was happy with someone who already had Emma’s darkness.”

Lily glared at her across the table. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

“I’m sorry. We’re so sorry.” Snow said, reaching for Lily’s hand, who moved them both off the table and kept her glare in place. “We didn’t know that you would be banished to this world, separated from your mother. We didn’t know that you were human.”

“So, what, you think stealing a dragon baby is all right? Is that it?” Mal asked quietly. “I’m human. And a dragon. Did you somehow think Lily would be any different? You think that a person that is part beast is less than human? I’m sure you don’t think that, given the company you keep with those wolves.”

Snow shrank back from Maleficent’s angry though calm voice. “I’m sorry, Maleficent. Please, believe me.”

“I would like to, but I don’t see it. You still look at my daughter as if she is everything wrong with the world, when everything that’s wrong with her is your fault.”

“Enough!” Regina snapped. “None of that matters right now. You can fight your squabbles on your own time. I agree that the darkness might be the thing that Rumple is after.”

“But what does that have to do with Roland?” Robin asked.

“Rumple always has contingencies in place.” Regina said, taking his hand. “All of his plots, his plans, are multi-layered. Ideally he might want Emma and Lily for his plot, but if he can find others who meet his criteria, then he can use them as well.”

“So are you saying that Roland has this darkness too? I don’t like the sound of that, Regina.”

“I don’t imagine he does, being born from you and Marian, but given Roland’s abilities, I think it is possible that he wants to use Roland to find anyone else who might meet the necessary criteria.”

“Mate, you mind catching me up here?” Hook asked. “What does Robin’s boy have to do with any of this?”

“Magic.” Emma said, looking at Hook. “I’ll fill you in later. But the point is, he has it, and since Gold has already tried coming for him, we can assume that he wants the kid for something.”

“Rumplestiltskin isn’t going to last much longer.” Robin said. “His heart is dying. When we were in New York… he needed me to steal this elixir for him. That heals a darkened heart.”

“So we wait it out and he dies.” Emma said. “Can’t that be a plan?”

“Unfortunately not.” Hook said. “The crocodile isn’t just a human sorcerer. He’s the Dark One.”

“So what does that mean?” Charming asked.

“Magic users aren’t immortal.” Maleficent said. “While it might be something that we all aspire to, it isn’t possible. Not without some otherworldly power beyond our mortal abilities. That’s where the Dark One comes in. The Dark One is immortal, barring some types of damage, namely the dagger. If Rumplestiltskin dies, then the Dark One will escape and be an entity unto itself. Snuffing out light where it sees it. Unless it is tethered to a new person.”

“Who would we tether such an evil creature to?” Charming said. “I mean, if Rumple dies.”

“Does it mean that they would succumb to the darkness?” Snow wondered.

“Not necessarily right away.” Regina said, looking up, remembering what her mother had told her as she had planned to take the dagger from Rumplestiltskin and use it for herself. “If the propensity to darkness is already there, then yes, it would exacerbate the darkness already within them and they would embrace it. That’s why it was so dangerous to let my mother do it.”

“So what… we tether it to a hero?” Lily asked. “That’s what you’re inferring, right?”

“But they could still go dark.” Snow said. “That’s always a risk.”

“It is. But less of a risk than handing that power to someone who already has experience with darkness.” Regina said, looking around the table. “That means that if it comes to that, Mal, Lily, Hook and I are off the table.”

“I’m not a villain anymore.” Hook said, pounding the table with his hook, glaring daggers at Regina.

“Neither am I.” Regina countered. “But we’ve been there before. Tasting it again, tasting the sheer power that it has… no. We can’t risk it.”

“So what are we saying?” Emma asked. “That we tether the darkness to a new person and hope for the best? I vote we keep it where it is and destroy it for good.”

“You can’t.” Maleficent said. “Something that powerful can’t be destroyed by any mere tool in this world. Nor can it be destroyed by pure light magic. It is otherworldly and needs otherworldly tools to be defeated.”

“Do you know what those tools are?” Charming asked.

“I don’t. But they will have to be legendary. No simple magical trinket can pull this off.”

“We’re still no closer to a solution to our dilemma.” Robin said. “In fact we seem to be much further away.”

“We have several dilemmas.” Regina frowned. “First, there’s the problem of Rumple. He’s dying, he doesn’t want to die, he needs ink to write himself a different story. We have the ink - or at least we think we do - while he has the Author and a quill. We can’t let Rumple rewrite the story, but we also can’t let him die, lest the Dark One escape, because better the devil we know then the devil we don’t.”

“Here’s an idea. Can we get a new Author?” Snow asked. “A new Author who can be trusted to write a… correction…? I suppose? To the story. So that Rumple lives but he doesn’t get to change everything.”

“It’s risky. I don’t even know how we’d find a new Author.” Regina said. “Or how you would fire the old one. The Author was in the book. But he was still the Author. So something has to happen to trigger a new Author.”

“Killing the current one?” Emma asked.

“Emma!” her parents scolded. “Not unless we have to.” Charming continued.

“But we don’t even know how one chooses the Author.” Belle mused. “But I have an idea.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes enact Belle's plan.

Belle explained her plan to the heroes. Hearing it, Regina sat back in contemplation.

“It’s got promise.” Regina acknowledged. “Plays on Rumple’s predictabilities, but at the same time his vulnerabilities.”

“But Regina… are you sure?” Snow asked. “Are you really willing to risk it?”

“We’re going to have to, aren’t we?” Regina said. “I’m the only one who can break the blood magic.”

“And Belle? You are willing to call his bluff?” Charming asked.

Belle nodded. “I have to. It’s the only way.”

“Sure, but there have to be other possibilities…” Emma said.

“Not any good ones.” Regina said. “Not without putting more people in danger.”

“All right.” Robin said. “I’m not enthused about this plan, but it does seem like a better one than the others.”

“You’ll be here.” Regina said, resting her hand on Robin’s. “In case anything happens… you and the boys will still be safe.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Emma asked, standing up. “Let’s get this over with.”

Regina stood and gave Robin a long kiss before walking to the centre of the room with Emma and Belle. Maleficent, Charming and Hook assumed a similar position a few paces away.

“The rest of you, stay here. Until we get the all-clear.” Emma said, looking at her mother, Robin and Lily. “Safest that way.”

Regina swirled her hand, and the three of them vanished in a cloud of light purple smoke.

* * * * *

They landed in the basement of the hospital, behind the nurse’s desk. They startled Nurse Ratchet, but Regina put a finger to her lips and she didn’t make a noise.

“Ready?” Regina asked Belle. Belle closed her eyes and nodded. Regina plunged her hand into Belle’s chest, removing her heart. She slipped it into her pocket, keeping her hold on it. Then they went down the hall towards Zelena’s cell.

“I knew you couldn’t resist coming here, dearie.” Rumple said, stepping out of the shadows wielding a sharp knife. “If I can’t have the Saviour’s darkness, the combined essences of a child of Love and a child of Hate should do the trick. I get your child’s blood, use yours to open your blood magic seal here, and then kill your sister as well.”

“Not going to happen, Rumple.” Regina said, pulling the heart out of her pocket. She squeezed it lightly and Belle groaned, putting her hand to her chest. Emma held her to make sure she wouldn’t fall over.

“You took my wife’s heart again?” Rumple asked. “This is starting to get old. What’s to stop me from gutting you and then just giving it back to her?”

“You’re weak.” Regina said, sneering at him. “Are you willing to risk your wife’s life on your ability to get to me before I crush it to dust?”

“Are you willing to darken your heart by doing it to spite me?” Rumple countered. “Must I remind you, your majesty, your heart is almost as dark as my own.”

Regina gave the heart a light but long squeeze again, holding Rumple’s gaze steadily. “I do what I have to to protect my family.”

“Oh yes. Your thief. And the boy who wouldn’t live if it wasn’t for me. Remember that, Regina. I could have killed the thief when he stole that wand from me. But I didn’t do it. Belle can attest to it.”

“It’s true.” Belle rasped out.

“That act might be the only one keeping you alive right now.” Regina said. “If you had killed him, that darkness would have meant that you would have died in New York, and no potion that Robin gave you could have prevented it. Remember that.”

Before Rumple could speak, Emma’s phone dinged four times in quick succession. It was the sign.

“Let’s go.” Emma said.

“Be seeing you.” Regina said, smirking at Rumple, and the three women disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * * * *

They landed in the living room, right next to Maleficent, Charming, Hook and a struggling Author. Regina returned Belle’s heart, and then looked at her.

“How did you know that would work?” Regina asked her.

“He’s getting desperate. That means he’s getting sloppy. He is collecting the puzzle pieces, but doesn’t pay attention to the ones he already has while concentrating on the ones he needs. He was so focused on ink that he went all in on that, leaving the Author and the quill behind.”

“Sloppy.” Charming said. “But we have him.”

“Rumple didn’t even leave any magical safeguards?” Snow asked.

“He did. But that’s why I was there.” Maleficent said. “Dragonfire destroys just about any barrier.”

“Rumple would have assumed that Regina and Emma were going for the goal.” Belle explained. “It wouldn’t occur to him that they’d be the distraction. All we needed was for Rumple to keep talking instead of acting - which he predictably did - and then it all fell into place.”

“Good work, Belle.” Hook said. “So now that we’ve got an Author, what do we do?”

Robin and Charming finished tying the Author to a chair, and the group gathered around him.

“So, the gang’s all here.” The Author said, surveying the group. “Now that you’ve kidnapped me, I’m guessing you want me to do your bidding?”

“Not quite.” Regina said. “We’re done with you.”

“You’re going to… kill me? I thought you were supposed to be the heroes.”

“Not kill you. Not yet.” Regina responded. “But we want to fire you. Get a new Author.”

The Author chuckled. “There’s only one way to do that without killing me.”

“And what would that be?” Hook asked.

“I need to finish a book. Once the story has been told and the bell rings, I am no longer the Author and someone else gets the job.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Charming asked.

“It wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be, all right? I thought I could write myself a happy story. Turns out it doesn’t work that way. I wasn’t even supposed to invent stories, just write them down. How boring. So I improved the game by writing stories the way I wanted them done. Just to spice things up a bit.”

“How many lives did your spicing things up cost?” Regina growled.

“Probably a fair few, I’d imagine. Even more if you consider the ones who didn’t even get a chance to be born because of my meddling.”

“Then why do you want to lose the job now?” Emma demanded to know.

“The Apprentice got annoyed with the changes I’d made. Specifically after I forced him to send her -” he looked at Lily “- here full of darkness thanks to those two over there. So he put me in the book as punishment, where I couldn’t change anything anymore.”

“So all we need is for you to write The End, and then it’s done?” Emma asked.

“It’s not that easy.” The Author cautioned. “The end of a story has to be an end of a story arc, as it were. Hard to do that right now, we’re in the middle of a quite exciting one. I can’t change it.”

“But Rumple wanted you to change it.” Regina said.

“He did. I didn’t tell him that I couldn’t do it anymore. Not after what the Apprentice did to me. Would you want to make the Dark One angry by denying him his last hope?”

“So the story is still being written.” Snow said. “Then we have to know what happens next.”

“It doesn’t work that way.” The Author said. “I can only record now. Which I still need ink for, by the way. I can’t change it. Or predict it. It happens and then it is written.”

“So if Rumple dies or the Dark One claims someone else…” Emma mused.

“That would be quite the good cliffhanger to a book, don’t you think?” The Author said. “The next installment will be quite fascinating.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes find the next Author.

“It’s up to us then, to make the story what we want it to be.” Regina said. “There is no changing anything except by doing it ourselves.”

“Isn’t that what… life is?” Emma asked. “I mean, it seems pretty obvious, but…”

“But we’d gotten used to the idea that someone was controlling everything, Emma.” Snow said. “That we weren’t responsible for our choices. At least, not all of them. Isn’t that right?” She directed that question at the Author.

“That’s right.” He nodded. “I mean, you made a lot of your choices, don’t get me wrong - I wouldn’t have chosen your husband for you - but then, you always were a pretty boring character.”

“Excuse me?” Snow snapped. “I’m boring?”

“Simple, predictable, True Love at a young age with a predictable partner… yeah, boring. Especially compared to the damaged souls that I had to play with.” He eyed Regina and Maleficent.

Regina advanced on him and put her face right up in his. “You’re responsible for all of the pain in my life.”

“No, not all of it.” The Author said. “I didn’t have anything to do with your mother’s story. Your mother giving Zelena away, hiding her heart, I didn’t have anything to do with that. Or even that wonderful piece about you and your sister being real sisters together… that was a heartbreaking scene to see end.”

“My sister and I were never real sisters.” Regina said warily, wondering though if the Author was right. “We only met when she took over my castle after we returned to the Enchanted Forest.”

“Is that what you think?” The Author surveyed Regina’s expression and could tell that she wasn’t lying. “Oh right, your mother erased that memory. For your own good, she said. It wasn’t long after that that I became the Author, and started recording the stories myself. And yours was always a fun one to play with. I didn’t do anything until after your mother killed your stable boy, but after that, the temptation was just too great. I wrote your fear of going into that tavern, your choice of how to kill the king… so many good stories.”

“Tell me about meeting my sister. Does she remember?”

“I would imagine not. She was sent back to Oz with her memory wiped much like you were.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Regina asked suspiciously. “And if you weren’t yet the Author, how did you know?”

“I read the previous books by the previous Authors. They’re all there.”

“All where?” Robin asked.

“The Sorcerer’s Mansion.”

“But we’ve been there.” Emma said. “The books were blank.”

“Did you look at all of them?” The Author asked. When Emma shook her head he continued. “Thought not. You probably only looked at the ones you could reach easily. Then there are the ones that are hidden away further. Those ones have all of these stories.”

“That’s great, but that still doesn’t help us deal with Rumple now.” Regina said, bringing her focus back to the task at hand.

“I told you. The story has to end, then there will be a new Author. This Author will be able to change things. As long as they don’t muck it up like I did when I started writing for my own gain.”

“So that’s the trick. Don’t write for your own amusement or personal gain. But… the gain of others is still okay? Would we be able to write the Dark One out of existence?” Charming asked.

“The Dark One out of existence? No. That messes with too much. But you could probably keep Rumplestilskin alive. Or rather, bring him back from the edge of death. Possibly keep the Dark One in him if you move fast enough. But you’ll need the quill - check my back pocket - and you will need ink. And, of course, the new Author.”

“Can’t anyone be the Author?” Belle asked.

“Not quite. The quill chooses the Author. And that’s the tricky part. The Author can’t be someone who is a magic user. Or someone who has had their life extended in any way by supernatural means, including a curse.”

“Which eliminates all of us.” Charming said, looking at the assembled company. “We were all frozen in time under the curse, be it here or in the Enchanted Forest.”

“Not all of us.” Emma and Lily said simultaneously.

“But you’re both magic users. Or can be.” Maleficent said, looking at her daughter. “The dragon is in you too. When you’re ready.”

“So that means no one can become the new Author. Not anyone in Storybrooke.” Snow said.

“That’s not strictly true, is it?” The Author said, looking around the room, and then glancing up at the ceiling.

Regina and Emma looked at each other. “Henry.”

“But wait.” Snow said. “He was in Neverland. Doesn’t that do the same thing? Freeze people in time so they don’t age?”

“He wasn’t there for very long, not unnaturally long, a few days at most…” Emma said. “Would that count?” She looked at the Author.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t know.”

“Well, either Henry tries or we hope Neal is a fast learner.” Regina said, resting against Robin and holding her head in her hands. “I don’t like this.”

“I don’t like it either, Regina, but Henry is our best shot.” Emma said, looking at her.

“I know.” Regina took a deep breath. “I’ll go get him. Snow, if you can come with me, look after the kids while we talk to Henry?”

“Sure.”

Regina and Snow went upstairs. Before they opened the door to Roland’s room, Regina turned to Snow.

“If it’s your son and not mine… I don’t know what we can do. What it will do to him. What could happen to any of us…”

“We’re doing what we can, Regina. All we can do is have hope.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Another hope speech.”

“We’ll hope that it is Henry. Don’t you want that?”

“I would worry for him and for what others might try to make him do.”

“Then we keep him safe. Like we keep our families safe. We can handle it.”

“I hope so.”

Regina knocked and opened the door. Neal was sleeping in a bassinet, while Roland and Henry were drawing pictures.

Henry looked up. “Mom. What’s up? You’ve got your worried face on.”

“We need to talk to you downstairs. Snow is going to look after the kids.”

“Okay…” Henry smiled at his grandmother and then left the room with Regina. “Am I being invited to join in the making of plans to defeat bad guys?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Regina said. “I still think you’re too young for that. But we do have a situation that you’re our only hope of getting out of.” She whispered conspiratorially.

“Do tell.”

“Come downstairs.”

Regina and Henry descended the stairs and into the dining room where everyone else was waiting.

“Henry, this is the Author.” Regina introduced them.

“Isaac. My name is Isaac.”

“Hi, Isaac. Are you going to write my mom a happier story?”

“I can’t. I can’t change anything. Not anymore. All I can do is write the story to a natural end point, so that the book ends, and then I am no longer the Author. Once that happens, the quill must select a new Author.”

Henry looked at his mothers. “Okay…”

“That Author has to be you, Henry.” Regina said.

Henry’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Me?”

“It has to be someone who isn’t a magic user, and someone who hasn’t had their life unnaturally extended.” Charming said. “All of us from the Enchanted Forest were frozen in time, either here or back there. And Emma and Lily are magic users.”

“So what you’re saying is, it has to be me or Neal?” Henry said. “But I’m the one of the two of us who can write.”

“Pretty much, kid.” Emma said. “It might seem like a harmless job, but the important job you’ll have could be dangerous. We would rather you didn’t have to do it. Regina and I really wish you didn’t have to do it and get in the middle of everything. But we’re out of options.”

“So what do you say, Henry?” Regina said. “Are you ready to be a hero?”

Henry looked at his moms and smiled. “Of course I am.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry takes on the power of the Author as the heroes fight to contain the Dark One to a human host.

Emma and Regina explained what would need to happen, and how quickly it would need to take place. Then they freed the Author’s hands, sat him at the table with a stack of paper and the quill. As everyone looked at him, he looked back.

“Look, if you want me to write the story down, I need the ink. No ink, no writing. No writing, we don’t know when the story ends. I won’t change anything. I can’t.”

Emma looked at Lily. “Time to give it a shot.”

Regina handed Lily one of her kitchen knives. “It doesn’t have to be a lot.” She cautioned. “Just a bit of blood, on the tip of the quill, and it’ll be fine.”

Lily nodded, and took the knife. She cut a nick in the tip of her thumb, wincing. Isaac held out the quill, and Lily dripped her blood on the tip of it.

It was definitely the right ingredient. As soon as Lily’s blood touched the quill, it lit up and Isaac grabbed the first piece of paper and started writing. The assembled group started to see words and images flowing out of the quill, faster than the natural rate of writing, as Isaac went through page after page, illustrating everything that had happened since he had been trapped in the book. In Storybrooke, in the Enchanted Forest, it all flowed out onto the page.

Henry stared at the pages, fascinated, tingling with excitement over the fact that it might be something that he would be able to do one day. That it would be something he would do one day, because after seeing the quill light up in Isaac’s hand, he knew with certainty that the next time it would do that would be in his own hand.

Isaac’s pace slowed, and as he drew an image of Rumplestiltskin lying on the ground in the pawn shop, he stopped and put the quill down. “We’re almost at the end. It’s close.”

Regina examined the picture of Rumplestiltskin. “He’s practically helpless.”

“Yes.”

“Would he be able to do anything to us if we were there?”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t stand too close if I were you. Rumple’s body may be failing, but the Dark One is still strong.”

Regina sighed and nodded. “Okay. Then it is time to go.”

Charming and Robin untied Isaac, and he placed the blank pages and the quill in his bag. Then he went over to stand beside Henry, Regina, Emma and Belle.

“Time to go.” Regina said. “Let’s hope this is all over soon.”

“All over in a positive way.” Robin reminded her, giving her a kiss, as Hook and Emma exchanged kisses as well. “Come home soon.”

Regina nodded, a lump in her throat, and waved her hand, the fivesome going up in smoke, reappearing in the alleyway beside the pawnshop.

Isaac pulled the paper out of his bag as soon as they landed, scribbling away, the others reading over his shoulder what was happening. Regina scanned the pages, which mentioned the heroes landing where they did, the heart of the Dark One getting slower, slower, slower… and stopping. Isaac wrote “The End” with a flourish, and the quill glowed once, then went out, dropping from his hand, Isaac jumping back as if it burned him.

“Go Henry.” Regina urged. “Pick it up. Quick. Get it before the Dark One escapes from Rumple’s body.”

Henry grabbed the quill, feeling it pulse between his fingers, and the glow as the ink from Lily’s blood activated it. He grabbed the next sheet of blank paper from Isaac’s hand and wrote: “The light of the love that Rumplestiltskin had for his family in his final moments lightened his heart just enough to reawaken it, but dropped him into a nightmarish sleep akin to that experienced by victims of the legendary sleeping curse, from which he could only be awakened by True Love’s Kiss. The Dark One, furious at being trapped, fought against its human prison, but knew that for the time being, there was no escape.”

The text glowed for a moment as Henry added the last punctuation, and then it was still. Emma and Regina looked at each other. “Did it work?”

“Only one way to find out.” Belle said, heading to the front of the pawn shop.

“Remember, Belle. You can’t kiss him. Not yet.” Henry said. “We need to find a way to remove the darkness before he can be awakened.”

“I know, Henry.” Belle said tiredly. “But I don’t know if I even am his True Love anymore.”

“Why wouldn’t you be?” Emma asked.

“Rumple’s real True Love is his power. Always has been.”

“Wait, so you think he could just be awakened by the power residing within him?” Regina said.

“That’s not a kiss.” Henry pointed out. “I was very specific about that.”

“What if he kissed his dagger?” Emma said. “Would that work?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Regina said. “If we walk in there now, and he’s still asleep, we take the dagger, we take anything magical. Take him to the faeries where they can work a spell to keep him trapped for now. Then figure out what to do from there.”

“Here goes.” Belle said, taking a deep breath, turning the doorknob.

They walked in the door of the shop to still see Rumplestiltskin slumped up against the showcases in the front room, his dagger several feet away. Maintaining a protective shield between them and Rumplestiltskin, Regina walked over and picked up the dagger. She turned it over, to make sure the name “Rumplstiltskin” was still engraved on it. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was.

“So we have the dagger, we have a new Author. An immobilized Dark One.” Emma said, then looking over to Isaac. “And a former author who has been a real troublemaker. I’m taking you to the Sheriff’s station and locking you up.”

“Really?” Isaac asked. “Look, I did everything you wanted me to. I turned over my Author power to your son. Isn’t that enough? Can’t I live in peace?”

“Not yet.” Emma said brusquely. “I don’t want you wandering around.”

“I guess it is too much to hope for a decent American court of law.”

“Here? It is too much to hope for.” Regina said. “This is my town. We run on Enchanted Forest justice here.”

Isaac visibly gulped.

“All right, Miss Swan. Take him away.” Regina said. “Belle can call Blue, they can prepare a place for Rumple in the convent. Then we’ll take him over there.”

Emma nodded and led a protesting Isaac out the door while Belle went to the other room to place the call. Regina turned to Henry.

“So, you’re the Author now.” Regina said.

“Do you want me to write something, Mom?”

“No. I am happy with my life as it is. As tempting as it would be to erase Zelena or Rumple or any other number of things, I have to respect the circumstances that have led me to where I am today, and I have to accept them. I wouldn’t want to do anything that would erase you, or Roland, or my baby girls. Playing with that power for personal gain will backfire, Henry.”

“I know, Mom. I’m proud of you for saying no. I just hope that I can hold onto that and do the right thing too. I want my father back, but…”

“That would really alter things.” Regina said.

“It would. So I won’t do it. I’d break the quill right now, but… someone has to record the stories. And tell the real stories. The details that got left out in the previous book.”

“Oh?”

“Mom, the book wasn’t fair to you. I know that. You did a lot of horrible things, there’s no question about that. And the book describes them all in vivid detail. But what the book doesn’t mention is what happened to make you that way.”

“Are you defending what I did?”

“No.” Henry said quickly. “I am just saying that the book, it doesn’t give the full story. And the full story is something that we all need to look at. To understand why someone becomes the person that they are, be it for good or for evil. Nothing happens on its own. If we understand people’s histories better, then we can understand why they made the choices they did. And if we do that enough, then we’ll know how to prevent people from making bad ones.”

“You mean stopping villains before they get to that point.”

“Something like that.”

Regina gave Henry a hug. “You’re very wise, my little prince.”

“I’m not little.”

“You’ll always be my little prince. There’s no getting out of that. Even when you’re grown up.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, Henry.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumplestiltskin is delivered to the fairies; then after words with Charming, Regina and Robin talk about her own reckless streak.

Emma returned from the Sheriff’s station at the same time that Blue and Tinkerbell arrived to help escort Rumplestiltskin’s sleeping body to the space that they had prepared at the convent.

“Regina!” Tink said, giving her old friend a hug. “How are things? I believe congratulations are in order.”

“Congratulations?”

“Your baby. I know it’s been a long time coming, Regina.”

Regina smiled, resting her hand on her stomach. “I guess you could say so. And Robin is back, my sister is locked up… and now the Dark One is contained.”

“For now.” Blue said, moving her wand over Rumplestiltskin’s still body, hovering it into the air. “His heart is only lightened a small amount. It will keep dying. This is just a stop-gap measure.”

“How long would you say that we have? To find a way to destroy the Darkness?” Emma asked.

“Not long. A month, tops. I’d find a way to destroy it in less than two weeks if I could. To be on the safe side.” Blue said. “You’ll need guidance for that.”

“Guidance? From who?” Regina asked. “Do you know something?”

Blue shook her head. “No. It isn’t me. You have to speak to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The Sorcerer has a history with the Dark One. Maybe his Apprentice can tell you where to find him, or how to solve the problem of the Dark One for good.”

“Where can we find him?” Henry asked.

“Last I knew, he lived in a cottage on the edge of town. But I haven’t seen him in a long time. He used to come for tea at the convent every week. But I haven’t seen him since the Snow Queen revealed herself.”

“Do you think the Snow Queen might have done something to him?” Belle asked. “Doesn’t really make sense.”

“Not the Snow Queen. Rumplestiltskin.” Blue said. “If I had to guess, he was trapped in that hat, just like we were.”

“But we didn’t release him when you got out. So that means he’s still in there.” Regina said warily. “Do you have the hat?”

“We do. I’ll give it to you once we get Rumplestiltskin settled. Let’s get him to the convent.”

* * * * *

Once Rumplestiltskin was settled in the convent behind magical wards, Blue gave Regina the hat box. Dark One dagger in one hand and hat box in the other hand, Regina waved her hand, sending her, Henry, Emma and Belle back to the mansion in one swirl of smoke.

Everyone else leapt up from where they had been sitting.

“Did you do it? Did it work?” Robin asked, coming up to embrace Regina and Henry.

“It worked. Isaac finished his story. Henry became the new Author. Rumple is still the Dark One, but he is under a sleeping curse, and being kept at the convent under the fairies’ watch. We have about two weeks to figure out how to destroy the darkness for good, otherwise Rumple will still die and the Dark One will be without a tether.” Regina said, suddenly faint and Robin led her to a chair.

“So, ideas on how to start that?” Charming asked. “I see you come with toys.”

“They’re not toys.” Regina said, irritated. “This is the Dagger of the Dark One. And this is the hat that he was using to trap magical beings. They would power the hat that would give him the opportunity to sever himself from the dagger. We need to get the Apprentice out of it.”

“The Apprentice?” Robin asked.

“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Since the Sorcerer has a history with the Dark One, he might be the only person who can lead us to a way on how to destroy the Darkness forever.” Emma said.

“So let’s get started. Let’s release the Apprentice.” Charming said.

“Not so fast, Charming.” Regina said. “I’m the only one who can do it. And I need to rest for a bit.”

“Come on, Regina, it’s just a quick magic spell. We can talk to the Apprentice while you’re resting and get ideas.”

Regina looked at Charming with a stern glance. “Nothing about magic is quick. Magic takes energy. A lot of it. And I’ve been expending a lot of magical energy in the past twenty-four hours, on not enough sleep and I’m pregnant. So you are just going to have to wait.”

“Regina…”

“Did you hear her, mate?” Robin said. “She needs to rest. We know there’s a lot to do, but she’s exhausted and is growing a baby. So kindly sod off.”

Charming backed down with the combined power of glares from Regina, Robin and even his own wife and daughter. Regina smiled up at Robin, and he helped her stand and led her upstairs, so she could rest in a quieter place.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into that man.” Robin said after he closed the door to their room.

“Charming is a dive-ahead, ask questions later type.” Regina said as she put the magical items on her bedside table and lay back on the bed. “He’s reckless, impulsive and a whole lot of other irritating things.”

“Milady, you have your own reckless streak as well.” Robin said, sitting down next to her. “Need I remind you of your foolhardy excursion into your castle to put yourself under a sleeping curse.”

“I suppose I do. But being pregnant… the stakes are higher. I don’t usually obey my limits, because I’ve only had myself to worry about, but somehow… she… the baby… she’s telling me that I should watch my limits. Whether it is because I subconsciously know that I should rest, or whether it is because she senses that I need to save my energy for something intense to come, I don’t know. But since I’m pretty sure that our child is more powerful than I am, I think paying attention to what she is telling me is warranted.”

“No doubt.” Robin said, stroking her hair, placing a kiss on her brow. “Do you want me to go?”

“No. Please stay.”

Robin took off his shoes, and Regina’s and then curled up next to her, rubbing one hand over and over her belly.

“You’re not going to feel her yet.” Regina said drowsily. “I don’t feel her yet either. As a physical presence, that is. Her magical presence is very clear to me, but I don’t feel any physical signs yet.”

“All I want to do is wrap you up in a blanket here and not let you leave the house until she’s born, but I know that you won’t let that happen.”

Regina smiled. “You’re right about that. There’s a world out there that keeps using us as its playthings. We need to do the only thing we can do - respond to the threats that present themselves to us and our family. Because by everything that is holy, I will do everything in my power to keep us all safe.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Robin said, nuzzling her neck. “Just remember that you’re not alone anymore. Emma is powerful with her magic now. You also have Maleficent and Lily. Belle is bloody brilliant. Snow, Charming, Hook and I can hold our own in a physical fight. Even our children - Roland’s magic, and Henry is the Author now. That makes him extremely powerful.”

“More powerful than all of us.” Regina said, closing her eyes. “But he says he’s going to use the power responsibly. And I believe he will. Because even though he’s still a child, I think he is more level-headed than the rest of us combined.”

“We need that.” Robin agreed. “You’ve raised a wonderful boy.”

“So have you. And now they’re both ours.”

“And our little girls are coming. They’ll be wonderful as well, no doubt.”

“No doubt.” Regina smiled and dozed off, gathering her strength for the work to come.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina releases the Apprentice from the Sorcerer's Hat, and he tells the heroes what needs to be done to defeat the Dark One.

It was late afternoon by the time Regina and Robin returned downstairs. They walked into the living room to see what looked like a library explosion in the centre of the room, and everyone from Belle to Henry to Charming was engrossed in a book.

“Where… where did this come from?” Regina asked, indicating all of the books.

“Oh, we brought them over from the library and the pawnshop.” Emma said, putting her book down and coming to meet them. “Researching all of the possibilities for destroying the ultimate Darkness.”

“Any leads?” Robin asked.

“Not as of yet.” Charming said, putting down his book and rubbing his forehead. He gestured to the dagger and hat box in Regina’s hands. “Are we ready?”

Regina nodded. “This is best done outside.”

The group followed Regina out to the back garden, where everyone stood back while Regina put the hat box on a pedestal, and concentrated her energies on the dagger in her hand, waving it over the box, concentrating on bringing out the Apprentice and no one - or nothing - else.

A glow emanated from the box, then swirling pink smoke, and in no time at all, an old man, frail but tall and with long hair, was sitting on the ground in front of them. She closed the portal into the hat box, and stepped back, dropping the knife. Robin appeared beside her to make sure she wouldn’t fall over from the magic drain, and picked up the dagger.

“The Apprentice, I presume.” Hook said, eyeing the man warily.

The man looked over at Hook and started. “You!”

“Relax, mate. I’m in control of myself now. You don’t need to worry.”

“What does he mean, Hook?” Charming asked.

“When the crocodile was gathering power for the hat. When he was controlling me. He used me to do his dirty work. Collecting the fairies, and… him.” Hook gestured with his hook.

“The Dark One still lives.” The Apprentice said.

“Of course he does. We don’t know how to destroy the Darkness. We were hoping you could help.” Charming said.

“A balance has been shifted. There is a new Author.”

“Yes. That’s me.” Henry stepped up next to Charming.

“You prevented the Dark One from losing its human tether.”

“Was that bad?” Henry frowned.

“No. Just… a wrinkle. It will do, for now, compared to what damage might be done by the Dark One being free and inhabiting a new host. The stasis he is in temporarily will give you time to do what you must do.”

“What can you tell us about the Sorcerer?” Emma asked. “The Blue Fairy said that the Sorcerer has a past with the Dark One.”

“Yes. He does. He was there when the very first Dark One was born. He bound her to the dagger. But then she stopped him from being able to do aught else.”

“She?” Regina asked.

“Yes. She. Her name was Nimue.”

“You mean Nimue, the Arthurian legendary character Nimue?” Lily asked. Emma looked at her in confusion. “I was being thorough in my research, okay? I didn’t know who or what I’d encounter in Storybrooke.”

“The very same.” The Apprentice replied.

“That means… the Sorcerer…” Regina said.

“Is Merlin. Yes.”

“How do we find Merlin, mate?” Hook asked.

“He is in Camelot, where you would expect him to be. Only…”

“Only what?” Regina asked warily.

“He is no longer in human form. Nimue bound him into a tree, so that he could not undo the magic that had cursed them both.”

“Cursed them both?” Lily asked. “That wasn’t in the legends.”

“It was. But like all legends here in the Land Without Magic, it wasn’t completely true to its original source. It was the Holy Grail that gave Merlin, and Nimue, their power. Merlin didn’t know at the time that Nimue had drunk from the Grail. He was going to reforge the Holy Grail into a weapon that could cut away his immortality, so he and Nimue would be together forever, for he had found True Love with her.”

“But that didn’t happen.” Charming said.

“No. Instead, Nimue gave into vengeance, and turned dark right in front of Merlin, by killing her old enemy. Then she smashed the weapon, breaking it into two, so that Merlin couldn’t use it to cut away her immortality.”

“Where is that weapon now?” Emma asked.

“Part of it is in the outlaw’s hand.” Robin looked down at the dagger.

“And the other part… it is in Camelot.”

“Wait, are you saying that the other part of that powerful weapon that can cut away immortality is…” Charming said.

“Excalibur. Yes.”

“But it’s missing a part.” Robin said, holding out the dagger. “You mean to say that Excalibur is missing its tip?”

“There’s a reason why it has been set in stone. That only the one whose task it is to unite the dagger with Excalibur will be the one to pull it from the stone.”

“Didn’t Arthur already do that?” Lily asked.

“Arthur? That wastrel?” The Apprentice’s voice turned hard. “Do not waste your time with Arthur. He perpetuates falsehoods and his entire kingdom is awash with it. Cursed by cursed sands, provided by the Dark One himself. No. You need to sneak into Camelot without him knowing about it to retrieve the stone, and Excalibur within it.”

“But who will be able to pull Excalibur from the stone, if not Arthur?” Charming questioned.

“That part of the story has yet to be written.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The person who must pull Excalibur from the stone is identified, and Robin and Regina learn some shocking truths about Robin's history.

“It has yet to be written.” Charming repeated. “So does that mean that any of us could potentially do it, or does it mean that the Author will decide who it is?”

“There are strict criteria for pulling the sword from the stone.” The Apprentice warned. “It is not a task to be undertaken lightly.”

“Pure of heart, pure of thought, yeah, we know.” Lily said. “Is that right?”

“Well, the stories typically say that the person to pull the sword from the stone is the one who would become king of Camelot, but that is a story we have done away with now. The story you speak Lilith is more accurately true. Only one of pure heart and pure soul can pull the sword from the stone.”

“I’m not sure if any of us has a purely pure heart.” Regina said, looking around at the assembled company. “At least, none of the hearts I’ve seen of the assembled company. Which is to say, most of them.”

“What about me?” Emma asked. “I’m the saviour. Isn’t that the definition of pure heart?”

“Pure of heart, perhaps.” The Apprentice said. “But at your age, I would not imagine that you are still pure of soul. That does not usually survive past childhood.”

“Does that mean it is my job?” Henry asked, looking at the assembled company. “I have the heart of the Truest Believer. Would that not be the same thing?”

“Even you, young Author, are no longer pure of soul.” The Apprentice said somberly.

“What?” Regina exclaimed. “How can that be? Henry hasn’t done a bad thing in his life.”

“He has, however, long since lost the innocence of childhood.” The Apprentice said. “He was the one who put all of this in motion by going to find the Saviour. He has not lived in the pure fields of childhood for many years now.”

“So who does that leave us with…” Regina’s voice trailed off as she met Robin’s eyes. Robin looked at her confused, and then the look of shock hit Robin’s features.

“My son.” Robin said quietly.

“Yes.” The Apprentice said, finding and holding Robin’s gaze. “He has been through much in his young life, and recently discovered a powerful gift, but he is still a pure innocent soul.”

Robin shut his eyes. Regina found and held his hand as he considered this burden that would be placed on his son’s head, when all he wanted to do was keep his son as far away from any of this as he could.

“Okay, so we might have a way to get the sword out of the stone, but how do we get to Camelot? It isn’t as if there are portals just lying around everywhere.” Belle said. “Rumple spent centuries trying to figure out how to cross worlds to find Baelfire.”

“I’m afraid I cannot yet help you there.” The Apprentice said. “I have some magics that can assist with crossing realms, but only when the threat is too great.”

“And the Dark One about to shuffle off its mortal host and became an entity unto itself… doesn’t qualify?” Emma asked.

“It is not yet dire. But I would urge you to find another way before it does become dire, for at that point it might be too late.”

“Fantastic.” Hook said, running his hand through his hair. “Rum, anyone? I find it dulls the pain of impending doom.”

“Let’s all go inside.” Regina said. “We can sit down in more comfortable furniture, and get to thinking. And more reading.”

* * * * *

While the assembled company sat down in the kitchen and living room, going through all of the books that they had brought over, Robin and Regina went upstairs, and were standing on the landing debating on how to handle the whole situation with Roland.

“I don’t like this, Regina.” Robin said. “As a matter of fact, I hate it. Intensely.”

“We don’t have much of a choice.” Regina said grimly. “I don’t like it either. And it is even more dangerous than the situation with Henry and the Author. And Roland is so young…”

“Do we need to do anything?” Robin asked. “I mean, I know it is selfish, but can’t we let the Darkness kill Rumplestiltskin, and then find a new host?”

“Robin, you need to know… if that darkness gets loose, while it would be ideally contained in someone without any darkness to speak of, its first goal would be to come after the people who have the most darkness already, and try to take them. First by snuffing out the light, and then taking over completely.”

“So you think you are in danger of being its first choice.”

“Not just in danger of it. I know I am. The only other person in this town who has my body count is Rumple, and if he dies, I’m going to be its next choice.”

“There is no plan B?”

“Well, it might go for the pirate, but I’m still more likely to be its first choice. And trust me when I say that me as the Dark One would not end well for our family. I’m not saying that taking Roland to Camelot and having him pull a sword from a stone isn’t going to be dangerous, but out of the different dangerous options, it is the one with the best chance of success and saving everyone.”

Robin sighed and rested his forehead against Regina’s. “At the risk of damning our boy. I know there’s got to be more than what the Apprentice was saying about pulling out the sword. If I could throttle that old man to tell me the truth of it, I would. I know he’s holding out on us.”

“Then let’s get the full story.” Regina said evenly. “I won’t put our son in danger without knowing all of the facts.”

Robin nodded. “All right. I will try to ask nicely first.”

“Good plan.”

They went back down the stairs, and found the Apprentice in the kitchen where he was getting a glass of water. No one else was there.

Robin went up close to the Apprentice, who put down the glass of water and looked Robin evenly in the eye.

“I know you’re not telling us everything.” Robin said sternly. “But before I risk my son’s life and soul, I want to know everything.”

“Pulling out the sword does not come without risks.” The Apprentice said. “The sword has power. You’ll have felt it, in the dagger of the Dark One. It used to be the Holy Grail. And there is a risk that when that power touches someone who has power - magic power - that it will become… connected… to them.”

“What do you mean connected?” Regina asked, standing right next to Robin, holding his hand.

“That they come to rely on one another. Not just the sorcerer, but the sword as well. The sword that wasn’t always a sword, and doesn’t always have to be.”

“My son is not a sorcerer.” Robin snapped.

“Not yet. He has not been trained in magics. But I have not seen one as powerful as him in a very long time. Not since Merlin himself.”

“Are you saying that my son is to be Merlin’s successor?”

“Only Merlin himself can decide that. But there may be something that will sway Merlin’s thoughts on the matter.”

“Such that Roland isn’t his successor, or that he is?”

“Give me your hand.” Robin looked confused. “Your hand, outlaw, your hand.”

Robin gave his hand to the Apprentice, who held it between both of his. There was a flash of light and Robin snatched it back, cursing.

“It is as I suspected.”

“What did you suspect?” Regina asked worriedly.

“If you want to know where your son’s magic comes from, you need not look further than your own blood.”

Robin looked at his hand. On his palm was a white mark - an image of a willow tree entwined around a cup-shaped object. “What is this? What does it mean?”

“It means that you, Robin of Locksley, are descended from Merlin and Nimue. The child of the Light and the child of the Dark, though Nimue was already pregnant when she became Dark. It has been many generations now, and magic comes and goes, but given how strong it has manifested in your son, it is safe to say that all children of your bloodline will be powerful in their own right. Not only your son, but both of your daughters as well.”

Robin looked at Regina, unsure of how to respond.

“So this means that Robin and his family have a connection to Camelot.” Regina said, looking at the Apprentice.

“They do. Sherwood is not all that far from Camelot. And also knowing the family that Robin is descended from… it does not come as too much of a surprise.”

Robin’s hand tightened around hers when the Apprentice spoke of Robin’s family, which was something that Robin had never discussed with her. From all that he had ever told her, life started when he became a thief at the age of seventeen, formed the Merry Men, married Marian, and so on. He had never spoken of his life before that, though she had an inkling that the tattoo had something to do with it.

When Regina looked back up to Robin’s face, there was a swirl of unreadable emotions there, but his mood was quite clear from the last line he growled out to the Apprentice.

“Do not speak to me of my family.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin tells Regina the truth of his family history.

After Robin’s warning, the Apprentice left the room in a hurry, and even Regina was unnerved, seeing a side of Robin that she had never seen before. So that they wouldn’t have to see the others, she waved her hand and they disappeared from the kitchen, reappearing in their room where Regina quickly closed the door and took Robin’s hand.

“What was that all about?” Regina asked. “If you don’t want to talk to everyone about your family, that’s fine, but Robin, you have to tell me. You said earlier that you didn’t know about magic in your family. But you clearly do. If it affects our children, I need to know.”

Robin sighed and slumped to the floor. “I don’t know how much you know of this world’s stories of me, or how much of them are even right - I doubt it, after seeing that one with the fox - but it goes like this. My father was one of the lords of our kingdom in Sherwood Forest, closely allied with the king. The king was a good man, but the rest of his family were complete gits. But it so came that the king was killed by his brothers, and one of them took the throne instead. My father, to all appearances not knowing of this treachery, continued to support the new king, because a liege is a liege and that is what he had to do.

“The other lords of the kingdom had realized the new king’s treachery, and were preparing to mount a rebellion against him. They thought that my father was merely playing a role, that he wasn’t really loyal to this supreme idiot that was sitting on the throne. So they asked him to join it. But it turned out that all along, my father had been the one pulling the strings - he had been the one to orchestrate the old king’s death, he had been the one to install the new king on the throne. He had a special type of magic, a skill of… persuasion, I guess you could say. What you can do with hearts if they’re out of their owner’s chests, but without needing to rip the heart out.”

“That’s a dangerous magic.”

“It is. I learned about it when I was quite young, because for some reason I was always able to resist it. I don’t know why. Perhaps that was the legacy that his blood left me. But I told you the truth - I’ve never done anything magical.”

“So what happened next?”

“When the lords all mentioned to my father their plans, he had them all slaughtered. I witnessed it, and fled, because I knew there was nothing more I could do. Well, nothing I could do openly. So I took to the woods and became an outlaw. Robbing royal carriages where I could, robbing from my father when I couldn’t.”

“And what of the tattoo?”

“There was one time that I was caught by the king. Mercifully, this was while my father was elsewhere, otherwise I’m certain I would have been killed. Instead, the king, being the idiot he was, believed I was simply a teenager rebelling against my father, and thought it endearing somehow. So he only tattooed me and let me go. I hear my father was furious when he returned, because he knew that I alone was aware of what he had really done.”

“And what of the Merry Men? Marian? Nottingham? How do they fit into it all?”

“The Merry Men were the band of outlaws I gathered around me. Men who had also seen disloyalty and betrayal in their families. Sherwood seems to create that, somehow. Marian was just a farmers’ daughter, who helped me turn from plain banditry to stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Nottingham…” Robin sighed. “Nottingham is my brother.”

“Your brother.” Regina said, remembering the man who had tried to seduce her with the fake lion tattoo.

“He was younger than me. He stayed loyal to my father, not knowing of his treachery. And he was rewarded with a good position.”

All of the stories and legends about Robin Hood started to fall into some pattern of sense for Regina as she contemplated everything that Robin had told her, and how it compared to what the Apprentice had been talking about.

“So this seems to indicate that the power that runs in your family… it rarely balances in the middle between good and evil. There is good, or there is evil, there is no in between.” Regina thought out loud.

“So what does that mean for Roland? For our daughters?” Robin asked, looking at Regina with fear in his eyes. “If my father was evil, but I managed to do good… what could it do to them?” Will they become like him? Or like me?”

“Knowing is half the battle.” Regina said, taking one of Robin’s tense fists and kissing each knuckle as she sat down next to him. “Knowing of what flows in your veins, we can either try to work against it, or try to work with it. Working with it is by far the safest option, because I’ve seen what happens when you try to deny magic that is there. It eats away at you until it finally explodes. No. Shutting down magical abilities has never been a solution. We just have to instill the important values in our children and trust that they will learn.”

“I’m scared, Regina.”

“I know. So am I.”

“Not only of going to find the sword and the Sorcerer. Suddenly that seems like the simplest task, given the enormity of what we’ll have to deal with over the years.”

“We will do it together.” Regina said. “We have each other. We have our family. We have our extended family of heroes and pirates downstairs. We are not alone in this.”

Robin sighed. “I’m glad I have you. So glad.”

“And I’m not leaving you.” Regina kissed him deeply. “Now, let’s go talk to our son and tell him about the adventure that we’ll be going on, as soon as we find a way through a portal.”


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin, Regina and Roland travel to Camelot, and are joined by a surprise guest.

Robin and Regina left their room, going down the hall to Roland’s, where they knocked and went in. Snow was rocking baby Neal to sleep, while Roland was sitting on the floor drawing pictures.

“Can we have a minute alone with Roland please, Snow?” Regina asked.

“Sure.” Snow said quietly, standing up carefully, still rocking her child as she went out the door and down the stairs to go speak to her husband and daughter.

“Mama! Papa!” Roland said. Then he noticed their tight and tired faces. “What’s wrong? Is someone hurt?”

“No… it’s not that, Roland. It’s somewhat else.” Robin said, sitting down on the floor next to his son. “We’ve stopped Rumplestiltskin for now. The shiny man. He won’t be coming for Emma or Lily or you or your sisters any time soon. But there is a bigger danger.”

Roland nodded solemnly. He looked at Regina. “You need me to be a knight.”

“I guess you could say so.” Regina said, smiling at him and joining them on the floor.

“I had dreams about it.” Roland said. “In New York. I told Papa, but he thought it was just because I’d watched that movie with Arthur and Gwe… gwe… Guinevere. And Lancelot.”

“And Merlin.” Regina said gently, trying to introduce the subject gradually.

Roland looked up at her. “That wasn’t Merlin in the movie. I know it wasn’t.”

“How do you know that?” Robin asked.

“Merlin is the man in the tree. The one who gives me the dreams.”

“This tree, Roland?” Robin asked, showing him the mark on his palm.

“Yes, that tree. And that’s the cup that isn’t a cup anymore. Now it is a sword.”

“Did Merlin tell you about this cup and this sword?” Robin asked.

“Not a lot. But I know they are important. That if the heroes have them, then the world will move towards good, but if the villains have them, it moves towards dark.”

“And where is the world right now?” Regina asked, both hopeful and dreading the answer.

“I don’t know. It isn’t easy. The heroes have part of the sword. Papa, you have it in your pocket. But it still calls out to the darkness. The darkness in the shiny man who is sleeping. But the other part of the sword… it isn’t here. It is on the other side. Where we were before Storybrooke. But it is just waiting. It isn’t light or dark.”

“Do you know why Merlin gives you the dreams?” Robin asked, wondering how much his son had known that they had not.

“He wants me to be good. Like him. Like you, Papa.”

“And why is that important to him?”

“Because he doesn’t want me to be like grandpapa. Or great-great-great-great-a LOT more of greats-grandmama.”

“And who is she?”

“Her name is Nimue. She and Merlin had a child. That’s why Merlin comes to me in my dreams. He is my great-great-great-great-a LOT more of greats-grandpapa.”

“Does Nimue ever come to you, Roland?” Regina asked carefully.

“She tries. But I don’t see her. I just see a green shiny woman. And what the green shiny woman always says is bad, so I don’t listen to her.”

“Who is the green shiny woman?” Robin asked, already knowing the answer.

“She was who the shiny man is. She took over Nimue. And now she lives in the shiny man. We can’t trust her.”

Robin nodded, stroking his son’s hair, looking over his head at Regina.

“Are you ready to be the knight we need you to be, Roland?” Robin asked.

“I am, Papa. Shall we go now?”

“We need a portal to get there.” Regina said. “It isn’t that easy.”

“Isn’t it?” Roland asked, holding out a pink flower. “I woke up with this in my bed. Merlin said it would help us find him. Help us find the sword.”

Robin and Regina both reached for the flower at the same time. As their fingers touched the petals, the floor fell out from under them, and the familiar roar of a portal surrounded from all directions.

“Hold on!” Regina yelled, holding on to the flower with one hand and Roland with the other, Robin doing likewise. The portal closed quickly, leaving an empty floor behind in Roland’s bedroom, with only the picture that Roland had been drawing when they came in: A field of middlemist flowers, and Excalibur, whole, lying in the middle of it.

* * * * *

Downstairs, the others heard the roar of the portal on the second floor. Recognizing the sound, Emma and Hook ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time, but by the time they got to Roland’s door and opened it, the portal was closed, Regina, Robin and Roland nowhere to be seen.

“They’re gone.” Emma said as they walked back downstairs.

“Did they mean to go?” Snow asked. “I was just with them, it didn’t seem like they were going to just leave on their own.”

“Whether they meant to or not, they’re gone.” Hook said. “So I suggest we start working on a way to get them back, or a way to kill the crocodile with the darkness buried in his dark heart.”

Emma looked at the Apprentice, who was sitting quietly in the corner, a place he hadn’t moved from since returning from the kitchen. “You know something, don’t you?” she asked. He looked up, but didn’t answer.

“You do. Tell us.”

“It doesn’t make a difference now. Powers outside of my control took them where they needed to go. It had to be them.”

“Why did it have to be them?” Charming asked. “Because Roland is the only one who can draw the sword from the stone?”

“No. It is because of his bloodline.”

“What bloodline?” Lily asked. “He’s Robin Hood’s kid.”

“There’s more to a bloodline than just one’s parents, Lilith.” The Apprentice reminded her. “There are many people that have come together to give life to all of us. All of the generations before us.”

Henry stood up and held out a piece of paper to Emma. There was an illustration of Robin, Regina and Roland sitting together on the floor in Roland’s bedroom. Roland was handing them a pink flower.

“Robin Hood is descended from Merlin and Nimue.” Henry said, pointing to the text. “Which means that there is strong magic in his family. Both light and dark magic.”

“It’s out of your hands now.” The Apprentice said, looking at all of the people in the room. “It’s up to them what happens next.”

“No. It doesn’t have to be.” Emma said. “Henry, write them back here. Or write us there, or something.”

Henry looked at the Apprentice and then looked up at Emma. “No, Mom. I can’t.”

“Why not? You’re the Author, you can change it.”

“But I shouldn’t change it. Only in dire cases.”

“Your other mother, father and brother just fell through a portal to Camelot. You don’t think that’s dire?”

“No, because it is where they are supposed to be.” Henry said. “I know you don’t like it Mom, neither do I, but I know they had to go. It had to be them.”

“You can’t do anything?” Charming asked. “Surely there’s something you can do.”

Henry looked down at the page and grimaced. “There’s one thing I can do, but I can’t imagine it would be helping anything.”

“Then why would you be able to do it?” Snow asked, confused.

“I don’t know. But it is something that the quill is telling me must be written.” Henry looked at the Apprentice. “Am I supposed to follow the quill on matters like this? It doesn’t seem like it would help in any way.”

The Apprentice nodded slowly. “The quill will tell you if there’s something that you can change. Something you should change. If it is telling you this now, then I would comply. An unattended quill can have serious consequences.”

Henry grimaced again and picked up the quill, the image and writing flowing out of the quill as he moved it along. After he was done, he handed the page to Emma, and put the quill down. “See. I told you I didn’t think it would help.”

Everyone crowded around to see the image on the page: A picture of Zelena in her hospital cell, falling through a portal, the same pink flower in her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hinted in the updated description that this story would have spoilers for 5x19 "Sisters", so if you're not up-to-date and don't want spoilers, you will want to stop here until you are caught up!


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina and Zelena learn something important about their shared past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where we have spoilers for 5x19 "Sisters".

Robin, Regina and Roland landed in a soft patch of middlemist flowers - flowers that matched the one that Roland had shown them, the flower that had triggered the portal. The flowers cushioned their fall, preventing any injuries, but Regina’s hand still went instinctively to her stomach. She could sense her baby’s magic presence, and it comforted her knowing her daughter was still safe.

There was a rumble beside them, and Robin grabbed Roland in his arms, jumping away. The portal spit out a writing mass of green fabric, closing back up behind it.

Regina looked closer as the flailing stopped. “Zelena? What the hell are you doing here? How did you get out of your cell?”

“Well I don’t bloody well know, do I?” Zelena snapped at her sister. “I was busy meditating when this portal opened up in the floor of my cell and I fell through it. It’s a small cell, not really anywhere to escape from that. Being here with you is the last thing I would want.”

Like Regina did, Zelena’s hand also went straight to her stomach to check on her child, and the gesture made Regina feel slightly… sympathetic? Empathetic? Hopeful? Hoping that her sister would start to realize what the love of a child meant, and that it could change her in the way that having Henry had changed her.

“Where’s your other brat?” Zelena asked, noting Henry’s absence.

“Henry is back in Storybrooke. Meanwhile, we appear to have fallen through a portal to Camelot.”

“Camelot? Why in the world would we be in Camelot?”

“Because it is our birthright.” Robin said, shifting Roland to his other hip.

“Our birthright?” Zelena sneered. “Excuse me, but I was born in the Enchanted Forest. As was my sister. We don’t have anything to do with Camelot.”

“But our daughters do.” Regina said.

Zelena’s hand went to her stomach again. “Our daughters?”

“They’re both Robin’s children, as much as we might not like it.”

“And Robin has a connection to Camelot. This should be interesting. Don’t tell me, you’re not really Robin Hood, you’re just in disguise, your true nature is… King Arthur! And my sister here will be your Guinevere.”

“Don’t be daft.” Robin said. “Our connection isn’t to Arthur. Or Guinevere. Or Lancelot.”

“Then who?”

“Merlin.” Regina said, looking over at Zelena. Her eyes widened.

“How?” Zelena asked.

“Nimue. His True Love. And also the first Dark One.” Robin said.

“So that means that you’re descended from pure light magic and pure dark magic.” Zelena said, intrigued.

“It would seem that way. Now, shall we? The Apprentice told us that Arthur is mad and that we should avoid him at all possible on this mission, so if we can take care of this and get back to Storybrooke in one piece, that would be lovely.” Robin said.

“Why would I want to come with you?” Zelena sneered. “I’ll just wait here until you come back. I don’t much care about this quest of yours.”

Roland slid out of his father’s arms and walked right up to Zelena, even though Robin and Regina both tried to hold him back. Zelena looked shocked by the boy’s bravery and didn’t make a move to stop him. Not that she could have, with the magic cuff still solidly on her wrist and Robin and Regina mere feet away.

“You have one of my sisters in your tummy. That means we have to protect her. And you have to remember how to be a sister.”

Zelena looked in shock at the boy. “What are you talking about? I’ve never been a sister to anyone.”

“You have. You just don’t remember it.”

Zelena looked at Regina. “What is he talking about?”

“I don’t know either. But I’m willing to believe it. The Author said something to that effect earlier as well. That there’s a part of our past that neither of us remembers. Something that would change everything.”

Zelena bit her lip, and looked at Robin, then Regina, and back to Roland. Regina wanted to say something, but she knew this was an important moment for Zelena, and she needed to be the one to make the choice.

“What was it?” She asked Roland. “And how do you know about it?”

Roland stretched one hand out to Zelena, who took it warily, and the other to Regina, who took it without hesitation. “Now hold hands with each other.” Roland directed.

Regina and Zelena glanced at each other, but then did as Roland asked. They all closed their eyes, and flashes of memories shot past their field of vision.

_“I’m Zelena. What’s your name?”_

_“Regina.”_

_“You’re sisters.”_

_“Love is weakness.”_

_“Mother, please don’t do this.”_

_“We’re sisters, nothing can change that.”_

_“I will find you!”_

As the memories stopped flashing, both of the women stepped back as if they’d been stunned. Which in many ways, they were. Roland let go of their hands, but the hands they held with each other stayed connected.

Regina opened her eyes first, watching her sister’s face, waiting for her to open hers. Finally Zelena opened her eyes, and the expression on her face was unreadable, but her eyes were filled with tears.

“Was that…”

“Mother.” Regina said sorrowfully. “She took us away from each other.”

“My whole life, there’s been this hole where a family should be… but it was always there. If she hadn’t done what she did. And now what I did.” Zelena looked around everywhere except at the people in front of her, and then slowly turned her gaze back to Regina. “I’m so sorry, Regina. For everything. Could you ever forgive me?”

Regina smiled a sad smile and looked at her sister. Looking at the raw honesty on her face. She knew that Zelena had never been good at hiding her emotions. Only when she was pretending to be someone else. But she was undoubtedly just herself in this moment. Hoping. Growing hope where hope had never lived before.

“I do.” Regina said, stepping closer to her sister, and the two embraced, a feeling so familiar yet so foreign at the same time, but undoubtedly family.

Regina felt her baby pulse in magic, and she stumbled back as they let go, and she could tell that Zelena was feeling the same thing.

“What is it?” Robin asked, looking completely lost. “What’s going on?”

Regina stroked her stomach, smiling at Robin and then at Zelena. “Our daughters recognized each other.”

“And you… you’re friends now? Is that what you’re telling me? Have I missed something entirely here?”

“Remember what the Author said, Robin. That Zelena and I had met in the past, but our memories were erased. It was our mother that erased them. But Roland just gave them back to us.” Regina smiled a teary smile at Roland.

“I just wanted you to stop fighting. I didn’t mean to make you sad.” Roland said, his lip trembling.

“Oh, honey.” Regina said, picking him up. “I’m not sad. I’m very happy. You gave us back something very special.”

Roland looked at Zelena. “Does that mean you won’t try to hurt Papa or Mama anymore?”

Zelena smiled at the boy, a genuine smile that Regina had never seen before. “I won’t. I won’t hurt them and I won’t hurt you. Or your sisters. Or your brother.”

“We’re family, Roland.” Regina said. “For all the bad things that have happened, we’re family.”

Robin was still confused, looking back and forth between Regina and Zelena, confused at their almost instantaneous peace.

“How did you forgive each other so quickly?” Robin asked, exasperated. “I don’t understand. It was just a memory.”

“A powerful memory.” Regina said. “When you grow up as an only child… there’s one thing that you always long for. A sibling. Someone to share the days with, especially when you grow up without other children around.”

“To feel that again, and to know it was ripped away from you…” Zelena continued. “I don’t even know how to describe it. I am truly sorry, Robin. For everything I did to you. For killing your wife… for using you to get to Regina. For taking your heart. I am so sorry. I understand if you don’t believe me, but… I will do what I can to make you trust me. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it. Please. For Regina’s sake as much as for yours.”

Robin ran his hand through his hair, still thoroughly flummoxed. Regina put Roland down and went to Robin, holding his other hand.

“I know it is a lot to take in. And you couldn’t feel it, so I don’t blame you for not understanding. And I understand if you don’t trust her yet. She violated and hurt you in so many different ways. But just like you forgave me for being responsible for Marian’s death before Emma and her pirate rewrote history, then you can forgive her, given time and her proving herself. Because we are a family. A supremely bizarre and weird one, what with both of us being pregnant with your children, but our family needs you. We need you.”

Robin sighed. “You’re right, I don’t trust her yet. As far as I’m concerned, Regina will still be the mother of both of my daughters. Until such a point that I feel I can feel some level of trust. For now, I’m willing to concede to removing the cuff, so you can be of use here, but that’s all I can do right now. And know that if you lay a hand on my son, or Regina, I will end you, whether you’re carrying my child or not.”

Zelena nodded. “That’s fair.”

“Thank you, Robin.” Regina said.

Then she stepped up to Zelena and removed the magic cuff that she had placed there. Zelena sighed as she felt her magic fill her again, flexing her wrist to help the muscles work independently again.

“Thank you, Regina.” Zelena said. “So, what is it that we’re doing here, besides it being our childrens’ birthright?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry, this isn’t the end of the conversation about whether Robin is willing to forgive Zelena. While the discussion of what Zelena did to Robin isn’t as involved as in my other fic (post-5x21 "Last Rites" fix-it "Oblivion is not an Option"), it also isn’t handwaved like in the show.
> 
> When I started this fic, I was super anti-Zelena. It was right after the 4x19 "Lily" pregnancy reveal, and I was absolutely furious at her. And I stayed that way right up to 5x19 "Sisters" - which, just like it changed everything for Regina and Zelena, it also changed everything for me. Now I am a huge fan of both Mills Sisters, and I treasure their growing relationship. Yes, the show has handwaved a lot of things, but I don't want to do that. I want to build a positive relationship between Regina and Zelena, but they also have to address everything Zelena did to Robin, and their own tumultuous pasts. There will be some of it in the coming chapters, but I am also planning a follow-up fic, where it will certainly continue to be addressed. If you don't like a Zelena working towards redemption, then you may as well stop reading here. But I would hope that you continue reading, because if you believe that Regina is worthy of redemption - which I assume you are, otherwise why are you reading a Regina fic? - then Zelena deserves a chance at it as well, because there isn't anything that Zelena's done that Regina hasn't. Everyone deserves their chance at redemption. *gets off soapbox*


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina, Robin, Roland and Zelena go on their quest to find Excalibur.

“We have to do _what_?” Zelena exclaimed after Robin and Regina explained why they were in Camelot.

“I know it’s insane, and I’d rather not have to drag my son here, but it is all we have to be able to defeat the Dark One.” Robin said.

“And we’re not talking Dark One as in Rumple. We’re talking Dark One as in The Dark One, who, if we don’t get Excalibur back to Storybrooke in time, will break out of Rumple’s body, and look for a new host.”

“If the Dark One is attracted to darkness, who is it going to go for in Storybrooke if it isn’t Rumple, and if neither of us are there?”

“My guess? The pirate. Or maybe that Blue Fairy. She’s always seemed shifty to me.” Regina said.

“I’m not the only one who got that feeling off of her then.” Zelena said. “Though for the record, even though we’re sisters and all again now, I still think you’re all mad.”

“Come on, Zelena, it’s not as if sisters have to agree on everything.” Regina laughed. “If they did, then you’d know something was wrong.”

“Anyhow.” Robin said, interrupting them. “I would like to get back to Storybrooke as quickly as possible. Which means finding this bloody sword. And Merlin. Though how we are going to do either of those things, I haven’t the foggiest.”

“Papa.” Roland said, pointing at Robin’s hand, the one with the mark on its palm. “I think that will help.”

Robin ran his finger over the cup - probably meant to be an image of the Holy Grail, that was then reforged into Excalibur - and then it pulsed with light. Robin moved his hand back and forth, and he noticed the intensity of the pulse change.

“So, if we follow the stronger pulses, I take it it shall lead us to the sword?”

“That’s the best option we’ve got.” Regina said. “Let’s get going.”

Robin led the way, followed by Regina carrying Roland, and Zelena brought up the rear. Robin wished he had his arrows on him, but he hadn’t had a habit of carrying them around the house. Perhaps it would be something to start if the world had a habit of randomly dropping him down portals from his son’s bedroom.

After they trekked for some time, the pulsing got stronger, leading them off the trail and into a heavily wooded area near a lake.

“There it is.” Regina whispered, spotting the sword in the stone through the trees. They surveyed the area, seeing if there was anyone keeping a watch over it, but it appeared to be safe at this juncture, lying abandoned and overgrown in the rock.

“Roland, you remember what we told you about the sword, right?” Regina asked him as they moved closer.

Roland nodded. “If the sword wants me to do anything, that I should say something and not do it.”

“Good boy.” Regina said as they came out into the small clearing around the sword. They circled it, looking at it from all angles, seeing if there were any signs whatsoever if there was a trap. Regina, Zelena and Roland each passed their hands over it, trying to sense if there was any magic attached to it, but besides the inherent magic in the blade itself - which Regina said matched the same essence as the dagger of the Dark One - there was nothing.

Robin sighed and picked up his son. “Are you sure you’re ready for this Roland?”

Roland nodded again. “I am. I’ll do what you said. I’ll take it out of the rock and give it to you right away.”

“But if you feel anything funny about it….”

“Then I put it on the ground.”

“And if something magic is wrong with it…”

“Tell Mama and Auntie Zelena right away.”

Robin let out a breath and put Roland down. He met Regina’s eyes. “I guess it is now or never.”

She nodded. They took up their positions - Robin standing directly behind Roland, next to the sword, Regina in front, facing them across the stone with Excalibur. She had raised the earth behind it so that Roland would be in a position to be able to reach Excalibur, given his small stature. Zelena was on guard, watching intently for any intruders, a ball of flame - which, Regina had noticed, was not as green as it usually was - in her hand.

“Okay, Roland.” Robin said. “Take out the sword.”

Roland reached for the sword, stretching his hands to reach the top, and then Regina held her breath until she saw the sword start to move. Roland was struggling with it, but managing, and in a few seconds it was over, the sword in one of Robin’s hands and Roland in the other. Regina let out a sigh of relief and went to examine the sword, not touching it, still not certain if it could be handled by anyone not of Robin’s bloodline.

It matched the etching and the patterns of the dagger of the Dark One perfectly. Regina pulled the dagger out of Robin’s pocket to compare, and noted how the broken edge of Excalibur matched up to the edge of the dagger where it was set in its handle.

As Regina looked at the dagger, she could see that the name “Rumplestiltskin” had started to fade ever so slightly at the beginning.

“Okay, I don’t want to rush us, but we should get this back together soon. Rumple’s name has started to fade off of the dagger.”

“And when it’s gone… he’s dead and the Dark One is free?” Zelena asked.

“That would be it, yes. That would be what we’re hoping to avoid by reforging this thing.” Regina explained.

“Only question is… how do we do that?” Robin asked.

“I think that’s what Merlin is supposed to tell us.” Regina said. “We just need to find him.”

Zelena looked out across the lake and the forest. “Any ideas on where to start looking?”

“I imagine this tree will guide us to him.” Robin put Roland down and showed the pulsing tree on his hand. “Since allegedly the Dark One - Nimue - trapped him as one. But given the direction it is pointing to, I would rather we try something else.”

“What direction?” Regina asked.

Robin waved his hand out towards the east side of the lake, where the pulse was strongest. In the distance, across the water, they saw a castle blazing with lights out of every tower.

“The Castle of Camelot.” Regina said, frowning. “Right on Arthur’s home turf.”

“As I said, something else would be preferable.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina, Robin, Roland and Zelena spend a tense night in Camelot.

The four of them moved away from the now-empty stone, making camp on the edge of the lake, but cloaked with numerous protection and cloaking spells, cast by Regina, Zelena and Roland. Robin was wary of Roland using his magic this close to Camelot, but any way they played it, they were exposed, so they needed all of the protection and safeguards that they could muster.

“Despite the shields, I would prefer to sleep in shifts with you, Regina.” Robin said, taking her by the hand as they made their preparations for rest. “Just the two of us on shifts. Just to be safe. I want to protect our family.”

Regina looked over at Roland, who was showing Zelena how to stack a fire, and directing her where to shoot her fireball to light it. She smiled. “I understand.”

Robin looked at his feet and then looked back up to Regina’s face. “I’m just worried… that you’ll be disappointed if I don’t accept her as quickly as you’d want me to.”

“Robin…” Regina said, running her hand over his cheek. “Don’t think that. I know she hurt you. Badly. And I know that you’re trying, despite all of that. Despite the darkness and the pain and the hurt. I won’t ask anything else from you. Only that you try. As long as it takes, it takes.”

“Thank you.”

Regina kissed him long and hard, feeling his arms around her. Then she heard a cough and remembered they weren’t alone, and stepped back, blushing as she looked at her sister.

“What’s for dinner?” Roland asked.

Robin looked around. “I… I think we’ll be eating bugs tonight, young sir Roland.”

Roland scrunched up his nose. “Bugs?”

“I’m afraid arriving in Camelot by way of your bedroom floor meant that we didn’t exactly pack any supplies.” He looked up at Regina and Zelena. “Unless you ladies can furnish us with takeout from Granny’s?”

The sisters looked at each other and nodded. Regina waved one hand, Zelena waved another, and a spread of Granny’s takeout appeared on a picnic blanket beside the fire.

“Ahh, tea.” Robin said, picking up one of the steaming beverage containers. “It’s tea, isn’t it?”

“Of course it’s tea.” Zelena said. “What else did you think it would be?”

“Well, Regina’s side of the family does tend towards hot chocolate.”

“Also accounted for.” Regina said, picking up two cups of the sweet drink, handing one carefully to Roland, who held it with both hands.

Robin surveyed Zelena as she picked up the other tea. “You know, come to think of it, that should have been my first giveaway that you weren’t Marian.”

“Sorry?” Zelena blinked and looked confused.

“The tea. You always made excellent tea. When we were in Storybrooke, when we were in New York, didn’t matter. Marian had always been rubbish at it.”

Zelena looked at Robin, seeing how serious he was, and just burst out laughing. Regina joined in, and soon even Robin was cracking a smile at the absurdity of it all. Roland also laughed, though he didn’t quite understand why, but was finally happy to see everyone start to get along. He could feel that his sisters were also happy. Though all three of them were wary of the sword that was now strapped in a sheath across his father’s back. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but its power was frightening, even if the grownups were able to ignore it.

After they finished eating dinner, Regina created a tent with room for three, and then kissing Robin goodnight, she, Zelena and Roland crawled into the tent and under the soft warm blankets, Roland curling up next to Regina. Robin sat on the ground outside the tent, warming himself by the fire, watching and listening for any intrusions.

After a few hours of contemplating the familiar sounds of the forest and the crackling of the fire, Robin felt himself beginning to drift off, so he crawled into the tent, lightly shaking Regina awake.

“Your turn, love.”

“Okay.” She said groggily. She sat up and gave Robin a kiss. “Everything sound all right out there?”

“So far, so good. Wake me when you’re tired again.”

“I will.”

Regina kissed him again and then slipped out of the tent. Before slipping under the blankets where Regina had been, he detached the sheathed sword from his back and tucked it by his side, where he’d keep one hand on the handle in case he needed it at a moment’s notice. Then he pulled the blankets over him and went to sleep.

* * * * *

They exchanged watches twice more, and soon the sun rose over the horizon, illuminating the Castle of Camelot in resplendent gold. Regina had been on the final watch, and while Robin and his son slept on, Zelena crawled out of the tent to join her sister.

“This is a bit weird, isn’t it?” Regina said, making hot drinks appear in their hands. They clinked their paper cups as they stared out over the lake.

“It will take some getting used to.” Zelena admitted. “It’s not often you go from hating someone and wanting them dead to accepting them as your only family within minutes.”

Regina smiled. “I can’t say I’ve had it happen so quickly before, but over time, it has happened before.”

“Right. You and the Charmings.”

“You get used to them.” Regina said dryly, hearing the disdain in Zelena’s voice. “Besides, their daughter is my son’s other mother, so I’m kind of tied to them, like it or not. But they’re family now.”

“I doubt they would accept me.”

“They will.”

“You think so?”

“Snow was always filled with such unbridled optimism that I would turn to the side of good and be her friend again. The same people we were when I rescued her from that runaway horse. And it took many years, a curse and some babies to do it, but yeah. And most of that was my fault. She was always willing to accept me back as family.”

“I don’t have her unbridled optimism.”

“Neither do I. But sometimes it rubs off on you a bit.”

The sisters stared out over the lake, wondering what the day would bring, hoping that it would bring them just that much closer to a happy ending and their home in Storybrooke.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes begin their search for the Flame of Prometheus.

Roland and Robin awoke not long after Regina and Zelena finished their drinks. The two crawled out of the tent, and Regina made it disappear in a flourish.

“So, Merlin.” Robin said, looking out towards the castle of Camelot. “Are we really going to storm the gates and demand to see the Merlin Tree? That we don’t even know how to communicate with?”

“We don’t need to go to the tree.” Roland said.

“We don’t?” Regina said, turning around to talk to the boy. “Did Merlin come to you in your dream?”

Roland nodded. “He was proud that I got the sword. But he said it was too dangerous to go see him, because the tree is right by the castle. And we don’t want Arthur to know we’re here.”

“Did he say what we could do to put the sword and the dagger back together?”

“He said there was a special flame. It is somewhere nearby, the Flame of Pr… Pro… Prom…”

“Prometheus?” Regina asked.

“Yes. That’s it. Prometheus.” Roland said slowly, sounding out each syllable.

“What’s the Flame of Prometheus?” Robin asked.

“Well, in the Greek mythology of the World Without Magic, Prometheus was a Titan who stole the secret of fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. Zeus punished him dearly for it.”

“So another legendary item that just happens to be tucked into the woods of Camelot.” Robin said. “This would have been an excellent place to work in my thieving days, a magical artifact in every corner.”

“But where is the question.” Zelena wondered. “We had the mark on your hand to guide us to Excalibur and to Merlin. But we don’t have anything for a flame.”

Regina looked at Robin. “Maybe we do.”

Robin looked up. “How?”

“Do you trust me, Robin?” Regina asked.

“Of course I do, you know that.”

“And I’ll need you to trust Zelena.” Regina said slowly. “Only for a minute.”

“What do you want to do?” Robin asked warily.

“Zelena and I can combine our fireballs into one mega-powered fireball. Then we will hand it to Roland, and then he will put it in your other hand. The one without the tree on it.”

“Are you mad? I’m not a magic user, the fire would burn my hand off.”

“Maybe.” Regina said, twisting her mouth. “Or, with the power of all of your children, all of the children of your bloodline, it will then reveal the way we need to go.”

“You’re all mad.” Robin said, even though it looked like Roland agreed with the witches.

“Robin, if we burn off your hand, I promise, I can make you a new one.” Regina sighed. “But unless you want to spend days trudging through the Camelot wilderness, hoping for the best, and hoping that we don’t get found by Arthur or his knights along the way, this is the best option.”

Robin let out a big sigh. “Fine. But it better be a really nice hand. And still with the scars that this one has.”

Regina humoured him and took it in her grasp, feeling all of the scars and ridges, memorizing them. Then she kissed each knuckle in turn, and let it out of her hand gently, turning it palm up, where Roland would place the fireball.

“Ready, Zelena?” Regina asked. Her sister nodded. They both conjured fireballs in one palm, then brought them together, using both hands to shape the two balls into one.

“Are you ready, Roland?” Regina asked. “We’re going to give it to you now. And then you put it right in your Papa’s hand, okay?”

Roland nodded and reached for the fireball that Regina and Zelena moved carefully in his direction. Once it dropped into both of his hands, Roland turned and stepped towards his father. Robin closed his eyes, terrified of what was about to happen, worrying about how Roland would feel having seen his father with his hand burnt off, even if it was restored just moments later, by a fireball that he put there.

“Robin.” Regina’s voice jolted him out of his fears. “Robin. Open your eyes.”

Warily, he cracked one eye open, and saw with relief that his hand was still there, and on it, a small image of a flame that was blinking faintly.

“We did it, Papa.” Roland said.

“That we did, my boy.” Robin said, swinging his son up onto his hip.

“You don’t need to be afraid of it.” Roland continued. “The magic. It won’t hurt you.”

“I would like to believe that, Roland, I really would.” Robin said truthfully. “But I’ve seen too many times when it has hurt people badly. I might trust the people using it, but that doesn’t mean that the magic can’t go awry.”

“Don’t worry, Papa.” Roland said. “We’ll teach you to like magic. In our house full of magic.”

Robin groaned when he thought about it. “How is it that I am the only person in this family without any sort of magical powers?”

“Because you wished it that way, love.” Regina said, kissing him. “If I had to guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“After seeing what magic did to your family growing up. You made an unconscious choice to not awaken such power within yourself.”

“You think that?” Robin asked.

“I do. We can’t know for certain. But if I had to hazard a guess, that would be why.”

“And despite that, I’m still surrounded by magic everywhere I go. That must be the world’s way of telling me that I shouldn’t have refused it back then.”

“It could be.”

“This is lovely and all, but can we save the introspection for when we return to Storybrooke? I feel uncomfortable just being this close to Camelot.” Zelena said, casting a glance across the river.

“All right. Let’s be on our way then.”

Regina and Zelena erased all traces of their campsite, and then they removed the protection spells one layer at a time. When the final spells were stripped away, Robin handed Roland to Regina, and then took the lead again as they headed back into the forest.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes finish their mission in Camelot.

They trekked for most of the day, Regina and Robin trading turns carrying Roland, but finally the flame on Robin’s hand flared more and more brightly. They came to an altar where the flame burned.

“All right, so we found the Promethean Flame.” Robin said, turning to the others. “What now? What do we do?”

All eyes looked to Roland. He looked back at them wide-eyed.

“All that Merlin said was that the person who put the sword, Ex, Eksc, Exc, Excalibur, back together, that they would also have to be the person who destroyed the Darkness. And it would be easier for family to destroy the Darkness. Someone related to the green shiny woman.”

“So I suppose that would be me.” Robin said. “Unless there are any objections?”

“None.” Regina said. “We’ll keep watch.”

Robin slid the dagger out of his pocket and unstrapped the sword from his back and removed it from the sheath. Zelena stood above the altar, looking behind the rest of them, while Regina kept watch from below, standing there protectively with Roland.

Robin approached the altar with the two pieces of the sword, ready to cast them into the flame together.

“Wait.” Regina said.

“What is it?”

“Just in case something goes wrong. If we get separated. Meet back at the field of middlemist flowers where we arrived. When we meet there, we can find our way back to Storybrooke. One of those flowers brought us here, one of them should take us back.” Regina explained.

Everyone nodded. They resumed their positions, and Robin plunged the two pieces of the sword into the flame, holding tight to the handles. Within moments, the handle of the dagger of the Dark One vanished, and Robin moved both hands to the handle of Excalibur. The ground shook beneath their feet, but everyone stayed standing, keeping their positions.

Once the ground stopped shaking, Robin pulled the sword from the flame, a whole blade at last. Regina smiled, and she and Roland started up the slope towards Robin when she heard Zelena yell and fire shoot from her hands in their direction. Regina ducked and threw Roland behind her as she turned to face whatever had gotten Zelena fired up.

Knights. And central amongst them, the man she expected would be Arthur, advancing with their blades, with the exception of two of them who were rolling around in the dirt, trying to extinguish Zelena’s flames.

“I don’t know who you are.” The man spoke. “But I am King Arthur of Camelot, and I will thank you for reforging my blade. Now, if you will hand it over here.”

Robin brandished the sword. “Not going to happen, mate. It isn’t for you.”

“Of course it is. This sword is my birthright. I can’t lead Camelot without it.”

“You’ve been doing it anyway.” Regina said, having backed up the slope enough to stand next to Robin, still keeping Roland behind her, clutched tight to one of her hands, a fireball in the other. Zelena came down the slope and stood on Robin’s other side, fireball at the ready.

“I wouldn’t let a pesky thing such as not being able to take the sword out of the stone ruin that.”

“You couldn’t remove the sword from the stone.” Regina said. “Then you’re not the rightful ruler of Camelot.”

“I suppose I’m not. But I’m doing the job anyway. I claimed it, because the bloodline that ruled Camelot has vanished.”

“What bloodline is that?” Robin asked.

“The bloodline of our founders, of course. Merlin and Nimue. Light and Dark, both sides of the coin, united in a child. But the bloodline has been lost to us, so we make do. I am the king now. Give it here.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, mate, but that bloodline is alive and well.” Robin said.

“And how would you know that?”

“We are that bloodline.”

Arthur’s eyes widened. “No! And now you come to challenge me for my kingdom? I will not have it!”

Arthur threw his sword at them, but Regina was faster, making the foursome disappear in a swirl of light-tinged purple smoke. They landed in the middlemist flowers, which were thankfully many miles away from the Flame of Prometheus.

“Good escape.” Robin said, breathing heavily, still seeing that sword flying towards his head.

“Now we just need to get home.” Regina said. “Somewhere here will be the key.”

Roland picked up the middlemist flower that they had arrived with. “Here? Since this is what took us here?”

Regina heaved as sigh of relief. “Seems as good a plan as any.”

Robin and Regina walked over to Roland, ready to put their hands on the flower, waiting for Zelena to join them.

“You know, we could have tried telling Arthur that you weren’t here to challenge his kingdom.” Zelena said. “He might not have thrown the sword.”

“Oh he would have.” Robin said. “I know his type. Mad and power-hungry. Besides, he doesn’t know where we went. He might just make himself a bit more mad trying to prepare for our assault on the castle.” He chuckled. “Besides, you never know when you might want to rule a kingdom someday. May as well keep it ready just in case I want to retire to a different castle.”

“My castle isn’t good enough for you, thief?” Regina asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Two castles are better than one.”

Zelena joined them in their circle, and the three adults lowered their hands to the middlemist flower that Roland held in the middle of their group, and the portal opened up and swallowed them up, leaving just a field of rippling middlemist flowers in the middle of Camelot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter and then we'll be at the end of this story! But don't worry, there will be a sequel :)


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the Dark One is nigh.

The portal tumbled them to the floor in the entryway of the mansion, startling all of the people who were still occupying it, though it was clear that some days had passed.

Regina straightened up and brushed off her dress. “What are all of you still doing in my house?” She demanded to know.

Henry held up a piece of paper, this one of the four of them holding onto the middlemist flower in the field of them. “Following your adventures in Camelot. Better than television.”

Everyone got up to give each other welcome hugs. Zelena nervously hovered on the edges of the festivities, but Snow came and drew her in, giving the older woman a hug.

“Regina was right.” Zelena said.

“Of course she was.” Snow said cheerily. “I am unbridled optimism.”

Zelena groaned. “The stories were that detailed?”

“Yes, they were.”

As the hugs continued, Robin looked at the blade, seeing that Rumplestiltskin’s name was almost half-faded now. “Umm, not to spoil the party, but we need to get to the convent now. There’s a Dark One to destroy.”

Regina nodded, coming to stand beside him. “Anyone else coming?”

Belle joined them. “I… I know this is the end of Rumple. I feel I have to be there.” Regina nodded in understanding.

Emma joined them as well, but there were no other takers. Roland stayed, chatting animatedly to Henry and Zelena about their adventure in Camelot. This time Emma waved her hand, and they disappeared in a cloud of pure white smoke.

* * * * *

Due to the protective enchantments in the convent, they landed on the front step, where Emma quickly pulled the bell and knocked for good measure. Within moments, Blue was at the door.

“Rumplestiltskin’s failing quickly. I hope you’re here to destroy the Darkness.” She said.

Robin brandished the sword. “We are.”

Blue breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Follow me.”

She led them quickly through the convent, to the cell where the fairies had restrained and charmed Rumplestiltskin. She stripped away the enchantments so that they could enter.

The cell was small, so Regina just gave Robin a kiss for luck and stood outside the door with Emma and Blue. Belle entered on Rumpletiltskin’s other side, holding his hand with tears in her eyes. She held his hand for a moment, and then nodded to Robin.

“Do it.” Belle said, holding on tight to Rumple’s hand as the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Robin took a deep breath, and then held Excalibur high over Rumplestiltskin’s chest, and drove the blade home. He held onto it as it and the entire room began to shake, the blade emitting a white light, which was struggling with black tentacles that emerged from within Rumplestiltskin. The blade and the Dark One battled for several minutes, and then in a loud CLAP they both shattered into nothingness, throwing Robin and Belle against the walls of the cell, and blasting Emma, Blue and Regina against the opposite wall of the hallway.

Regina leapt to her feet, feeling for her daughter, relieved to feel her magic pulsing away, and then ran into the cell for Robin. Robin was unconscious, but she didn’t see any injuries, just the impact against the wall. She ran her hand over his forehead, feeling and seeing a white light come from her hand, and going into him. He blinked his eyes a few times and then opened them.

“Regina.” Robin said.

“Robin. I was almost worried that I lost you.”

“You won’t lose me, love. I’ll always be here for you.”

“Can you stand up?”

“I think so.”

Regina helped him to his feet, and he groaned, feeling bruises across his back, as Regina helped him limp out of the cell. Blue and Emma were assisting Belle, who was groaning much the same as Robin was.

The other fairies flooded down the stairs to see what was going on.

“Is everything okay?” Tink asked, coming up to Regina and Robin. “Are you all right?”

“We’re fine.” Regina assured her. “One Dark One, vanquished.”

Tink smiled. “Good job.”

“Don’t thank me, it was Robin. It was all Robin.”

Tink looked at Robin. “Legacy of my bloodline and all that.” He said. Tink looked confused.

“I’ll send over the book when it is done.” Regina said. “Or the pages at least, I think this story is just beginning.”

“I’m confused.”

“Henry is the Author. While we were in Camelot, he was chronicling the whole story here. So you’ll be able to read it.”

“And what is Henry’s story called?” Tink asked.

“I don’t know.” Regina said. “But I think it will have something to do with the adventures of a queen and her thief who could be a king, and how they brought the fractured pieces of their family back together.” She smiled at Robin, and, despite the fact that they were in the basement of a convent, kissed him hard, feeling their love flow through their bones, free, together and happy at last.

**FIN**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for sticking through this with me! I hope that the premiere tonight is good! I however won't be seeing it just yet, since I will be on my way to Spain for a month. But when I get back I will start posting the sequel to this fic!
> 
> Here's the summary, and maybe someone has an idea for a title?
> 
> _After a few months of peace, the Hood-Mills family must once again face off against an ancient source of magic that would like nothing more than to cause grief and sorrow._
> 
> _And as his children grow in their power, Robin has to confront his tumultuous history with magic, and in so doing, find the key to protect them from those who would wish them ill._
> 
> _Friendships will be tested. Old allies proved false. But family will persevere._


End file.
